Historical monument classification 2003 et 2012 (≈ 2012)
Protection of the bridge and its annexes.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
The canal bridge that spans the Garonne with its two waiting basins and their locks (cad. non-cadastre, public domain): registration by order of 21 August 2003 - The entire system linked to the canal bridge, i.e. the two upstream and downstream waiting basins, located at each end of the bridge, the three large downstream basins with their corresponding four locks and their four lock houses, the banks planted with trees (halage paths) (see box). upstream basin and its banks: Agen, public domain, not cadastral; downstream basin, the three large downstream basins, the four locks and lockhouses, the banks: The Passage, public domain, not cadastred) and the house of the Bridges and Chaussées housing the management service of the device (cad. Agen BI 5): registration by order of 12 July 2012
Key figures
Jean-Baptiste de Baudre - Bridge and Chaussées Engineer
Director of Bridge Works.
Jean Gratien de Job - Bridge and Chaussées Engineer
Co-director of the site.
Ferdinand-Philippe d'Orléans - Duke of Orléans
Put the first stone down.
Origin and history
Agen's canal bridge is a major work of art designed to allow the lateral canal at the Garonne to cross the Garonne itself. Located between Agen and Le Passage-d'Agen en Lot-et-Garonne, it extends over 539 meters with 22 batteries, entirely masonized in stone. Its imposing dimensions (12.48 metres in total width, 8.82 metres for the waterway) allow only one-way navigation. Two docks with locks frame the structure, optimizing river traffic management.
Built between 1839 and 1847 under the direction of engineers Jean-Baptiste de Baudre and Jean Gratien de Job, the bridge uses Quercy stones. The first stone was laid on August 25, 1839 by the Duke of Orléans Ferdinand-Philippe. The works, interrupted in 1841 by the construction of the Bordeaux-Toulouse railway line, resumed in 1846. During this break, the bridge is rented to farmers as a paid pass, but the high toll limits its success. Completed in 1847, it was put into service in 1849 and remained the longest canal bridge in France until 1896.
The canal bridge marks the downstream boundary of the Alose spawning pond since 1981. Ranked a two-stage historic monument (2003 and 2012), it includes its waiting ponds, locks, and lockhouses. Originally designed to boost river navigation, its economic role declined with the arrival of the Bordeaux-Valence railway in 1856, making channel transport less competitive.
The work illustrates the engineering of 19th-century Bridges and Chaussées, combining river functionality and architectural aesthetics. Its 23 arches of 20 meters of opening, 10 meters high, testify to a remarkable technical mastery. Today, it remains a symbol of the Aquitaine industrial heritage, integrated into the landscape of New Aquitaine.
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