Ronquières Inclined Plane

Not a rideout as such - we took the car as the weather here was awful.
I've been planning to visit both the Ronquières Inclined Plane and the Strépy-Thieu Boat Lift for ages and we decided today was the day.
The journey took considerably longer than Lady Penelope said it would because of the torrential rain so we didn't get as far as the lift but.....the incline plane is awesome!
Fortunately the weather cleared and we had sunshine for the visit itself.
It takes between 2 and 3 hours to do the tour, ascend the tower (12 storeys high - there is a lift!) and watch at least one transit of a tankful of boats - it costs €7.00, €5.50 for over-60s.
I've taken loads of photos, some of which I'll post soon but do have a look at the link.

Good picture here.

I shall do the lift at some point soon and revisit the plane as well.

Interesting, I guess it uses a lot less water than a system of locks but locks do have the advantage of running on gravity instead of electrical power.

To all intents and purposes there is no water-loss.
The electric motors are very small; they get the caissons moving but the massive counterweights mean that little power is needed.