Harbour

Montech

Name: Montech
Address: Montech, FR

3.9Montech, France

Type: Harbour

Halte fluviale on the Canal latéral a la Garonne at Montech, Tarn-et-Garonne, at the foot of the disused Montech water slope.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Approach along the Canal latéral a la Garonne, Freycinet gauge. Maximum draught 1.80 m, maximum air draught 3.50 m. The branch canal to Montauban leaves the main line at Montech. VNF rules apply, no VHF.

Practical

Alongside moorings on the quay with water and electricity bollards. Pump-out nearby. No fuel at the halte, nearest fuel by road in Montech town. Boulangerie, pharmacy and a Carrefour Contact supermarket within 500 m of the quay.

Ashore

The Pente d'eau de Montech, a water slope built in 1974 to bypass a flight of five locks, has been converted into a visitor site with a restaurant and interpretation centre 200 m from the moorings. The Canal des Deux Mers cycle route passes the port, with Montauban 11 km north-east via the branch canal. Abbey of Belleperche, with its ceramics museum, is 7 km west.

History

The Canal latéral a la Garonne opened in 1856 as the western extension of Riquet's Canal du Midi, completing the link between the Atlantic at Bordeaux and the Mediterranean at Sete. The Montech water slope was an experimental engineering solution using two diesel locomotives to push a wedge of water with a barge inside up a 443 m concrete slope. It operated until 2009.