Scheldt through Tournai

The Scheldt has played a key role throughout Tournai's history, just like rivers in other major cities. The strategic location of Tournai as a junction of river and roads has contributed to the success and development of the city: water supply, source of energy, communication route, military defense stronghold and... large drainage basin.

The current course of the Scheldt, with its perpendicular, steep banks and metal bridges, only dates from the 18th century . Before the works that Louis XIV had carried out from 1684 onwards, the Scheldt was very wide and the houses were close to the water.

As part of the Seine-Scheldt project, the Scheldt in its passage through Tournai was adapted for ships of class CMET Va with four rows of containers. 'Seine Schelde' is a cross-border inland shipping project in which France and Belgium are working together. The aim is to allow inland vessels to sail even further into France, even as far as Paris. Currently , only inland vessels of 400 to 600 tons can reach Paris via small, outdated waterways with numerous locks. By 2030, the route between Ghent and Deûlémont (French municipality near the Belgian border) will be navigable for ships up to 4,500 tons . France is responsible for the development of the inland waterways on French soil and provides the connection to Paris via Lille, Cambrai and Compiègne.

About 70 ships still sail through there every day

Willem Vandenameele