Discover the commitments behind the Canal
Find here the structural commitments of the Société du Canal Seine-Nord Europe and the project partners.
Discover the commitments behind the Canal
Find here the structural commitments of the Société du Canal Seine-Nord Europe and the project partners.
The launch of the consultation concerning the main works and associated services required for the construction of the Marquion lock on July 25, 2025, is a new important step for the Seine-Nord Europe Canal. This step allows companies to apply by September 8, 2025. Notification of this contract is scheduled for September 2nd 2026 semester. All consultations for the main works of the 7 locks have now been launched. (including that of the Montmacq lock which has already been allocated).
The Marquion lock, located in Pas-de-Calais, is distinguished by its greatest drop in water on the route: 25,71 meters. As with the other 6 large-gauge locks that will be built, the internal dimensions of the chamber are 12,5 meters wide and 197 meters long. Due to the specific characteristics of the land on this site, it has also been the subject of a innovative design by thin wall joists associated with technical blocks reusing the materials in place by treating the silts. This thus makes it possible to reduce the volumes of concrete to be used as well as greenhouse gas emissions, compared to a classic design with thick side walls.
As part of the selection of offers, candidates will have to meet criteria linked to the energy transition in connection with the construction sites, thus enabling the decarbonization of the site.
Each candidate must commit to ensuring that the site benefits from modal shift : it is therefore requested to limit road transport for the supply of materials to the site, by favoring the use of the railway or the river. In order to encourage modal shift for the realization of this project, the offers of candidates who commit to this will be valued during the rating.
Each candidate will also have to commit to reducing its CO emissions2 : candidates will have to explain their strategy to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions linked to the implementation of the project and in particular to respect the objective of quantities of CO emissions2 maximum set for the “material” carbon footprint (concrete and steel).
The design of these locks represents a real technical challenge. Each of these structures was designed by the teams of the Société du Canal Seine-Nord Europe and its project managers in compliance with ambitious environmental criteria. So, for preserve water resources, basins attached to the airlock will save a good part of the water when emptying the lock to be reused during the next filling. Water that cannot be spared is immediately pumped from the downstream reach to the upstream reach.
In addition, a very high level of transport performance was required for these locks, implying limiting the passage time of boats as much as possible. To do this, the airlock times (filling or emptying of the airlock) have been optimized to do not exceed 10 to 13 minutes.
For limit the use of concrete, the walls of certain locks, called bajoyers, will be thin. They will rest on large masses of silt (fine soils) taken on site and mixed with a proportion of lime and binders. This innovative solution was the subject of a "full-scale" test program near Marquion.
Particular attention was paid to the insertion of the Seine-Nord Europe Canal locks which will create new landscapes. That of Oisy-le-Verger as well as those of Noyon and Allaines are designed to welcome the public and become essential on the tourist circuits of Hauts-de-France.
Added July 31, 2025 - Updated August 4, 2025
