I'm more than 10 years late here but this footage is amazing, thanks so much for putting it on the internet! I'm in the middle of making a little video about this machine for my channel, and it's great to see the thing actually working, solves a few mysteries about how it all functioned. (In fact - if you still read these messages - would you mind if I borrow 10-20s of your footage for use in my video? I will of course give you a credit and include a link so that viewers can come here and watch the whole thing.)
Thankyou for your kind comments. You're very welcome to use part of this clip, and a credit and a link would be very good, thanks. It's now over 30 years since I shot that video, and it was the end of a long day, just our 5th day on the French canals. Little did I suspect that it would turn out to be - as far as I am aware - the only video on the 'net of it actually working. Wehn we returned in 1992 it was out of use, and has been ever since. It makes me sad to see the state it's in these days. The city of Beziers spent a lot of money upgrading the surroundings of the flight of locks back in 2017, and I really do think they could at the very least have given it a coat of paint !
@@chrisdodge4462 ah brilliant, thank you! Yes unfortunately what I've heard is that while most of the site got a shiny upgrade, the water slope is JUST outside the city boundaries, and therefore it falls under another authority, who don't want to spend any money on it. But hey, with a bit of luck someone might see it here on UA-cam and decide to save it...
@@TheTimTraveller just came from your video, can't wait for part two. Thank Chris for letting Tim use your video it certainly gives a lot more context.
If you do a UA-cam search of Fonserannes, you'll find a video that does tell the story. The software however will not allow to send you a link. The video concerned does however come with patronising attempts at a French accents, and equally patronising references to hire boats and boaters, plus, I suspect, quite a bit of exageration. It does give you the gist of what happened however. Glad you liked the video - it's still the only one of the slope actually working ! Best Regards, Chris
"I am absolutely thrilled to see your video. I cruised some of the Canal du Midi this summer, June 09, on the barge Anjodi, and heard the story of the Pente d'eau Fonserannes accident. On my return to the states, I googled and googled to find out all that I could about it and posted my trivial little you tube video only yesterday. I told my wife this morning, "Someone, somewhere has an actual video of this thing working, but I will never see it." And today, here you are. Thanks again.
Fascinating! I’m a UK canal nerd, but never heard of a mechanism like this. Thanks for uploading...and letting TimTraveller use it- really helps to understand how it worked...tiny bit bonkers;)
Absolutely fascinating machine. I’ve watched this one after watching Tim’s video. Thanks so much for sharing. Real shame such a brilliant idea had such a short life.
Thanks for letting Tim use your video and for uploading it to the Internet. I watched a few of your other videos. You should make some more and upload again. Cheers!
Thank you! i was in Fonserrannes two times and saw the 'pente d'eau' lone and sad. an old man i met there told me that 'it does not work', but i cold not understand why, 'cause my low level of french. you did an historical video.
So the machine was based on a variation of the heavy lift sling cranes for large boats and yachts without the lifting ability, and instead the sling was replaced with a gate and flexible seals that trapped the water and pushed a wall of water along the canal, supporting the boat. The water lost to the leakage of the seals between the gate and canal wall was constantly replenished by the water flowing from the higher body of water.
Thursday 11 the February 2016 @1:30 pm. I took a walk onto the big blue machine that is laid up at Fonseraines in Béziers. inside it has been vandalized with much of the electrics gone. one of the windows has been smashed too. it's such a shame that such engineering wonders are left to corrode. hopefully later this week I will sneak back aboard and make a video to post onto UA-cam.
I had completely forgotten the sound of the steel plates which were raised as the push boat moved, to establish electrical contact. Thank you so much !
It's an awesome mechanism. I would think some rollercoaster like tracks with a cradle would had been fairly efficient... Though now i think about it that would still require a lock at the top of the ramp. Great interesting video.
visited to give you a view because you were mint enough to let tim traveler guy use some of your video and you check your comments, very good thank you and good video
interesting machine, thanks for taking a video of it running ! i'm pretty sure it could be restored and become some sort of tourist attraction. plus it DID work
@@gordonwilson1631 Naw! I'm over in Embra... Taken grand kids and visiting cousins on it. Spectacular... combine with a trip to see the Kelpies. You stay safe too.
just come back from fonserrannes and big blue machine is looking a bit sad and vandalised. i did get up to the control room bit of a test for my vertigo. anybody know details of accident? surprised they left it at top and not the bottom of slope.
Hi, great vid. Do you (or anyone) recall what the song is called? I checked the one youtube lists in the description but I'm almost sure it's something else...
They didn't. It was all part of the service. Back in 1990 they had 'Lock' days when you had to use the flight of locks, and 'Waterslope' days when you used the waterslope. When we came back down it was a 'lock' day, so we never got to play on the slope a second time.
@@chrisdodge4462 But Thats never deep enough for the boats to float right? It wasnt really clear to me from the video how the system really works. but I guess it's a sort of driving lock?
@@MisterMotel the way it worked was the vehicle was mounted on a slope. It ran through a sloped channel. The vehicle would push water up from the bottom to the top using the gate. The gate would constantly leak water from the bottom so they would let water from the top to replenish it.
@@Ben31337l "Sloped"-placed or arranged in a sloping position; inclined. "Slopped"- past tense of "slop", as to spill from a container; to splash or spill liquid on. C'mon man.
The biggest problem with the whole idea must be that if it breaks down halfway up, your boat is completely stuck until they get it working again... which could take days...
Hello, My name is Charlie and I am contacting you from a post-production company in London. I am currently working on a new series for the Discovery Network. For the next episode in the series we are working on a section which follows the Waterslope at Montech, and the footage you have here is exactly what we are looking for. How would you feel about licensing the clip for us to include a few shots into our project? We use archive purely as a reference for our viewers and to give them a better understanding of the engineering that took place. I really hope we can work something out and please contact me at - charlie.likeashot@gmail.com All the Best Charlie
I'm more than 10 years late here but this footage is amazing, thanks so much for putting it on the internet! I'm in the middle of making a little video about this machine for my channel, and it's great to see the thing actually working, solves a few mysteries about how it all functioned. (In fact - if you still read these messages - would you mind if I borrow 10-20s of your footage for use in my video? I will of course give you a credit and include a link so that viewers can come here and watch the whole thing.)
Thankyou for your kind comments. You're very welcome to use part of this clip, and a credit and a link would be very good, thanks. It's now over 30 years since I shot that video, and it was the end of a long day, just our 5th day on the French canals. Little did I suspect that it would turn out to be - as far as I am aware - the only video on the 'net of it actually working. Wehn we returned in 1992 it was out of use, and has been ever since. It makes me sad to see the state it's in these days. The city of Beziers spent a lot of money upgrading the surroundings of the flight of locks back in 2017, and I really do think they could at the very least have given it a coat of paint !
@@chrisdodge4462 ah brilliant, thank you! Yes unfortunately what I've heard is that while most of the site got a shiny upgrade, the water slope is JUST outside the city boundaries, and therefore it falls under another authority, who don't want to spend any money on it. But hey, with a bit of luck someone might see it here on UA-cam and decide to save it...
@@TheTimTraveller Hihi, just came from your video :)
Hello!!!
@@TheTimTraveller just came from your video, can't wait for part two. Thank Chris for letting Tim use your video it certainly gives a lot more context.
The Tim Traveler sent me here!!!
Me too!
And me too!
There's a coincidence...
Meeeee 5
Same here :-)
thanks for giving Tim the permission
This is definitely the kind of video that would end up in my recommended in a couple of years
Let's hope :)
I love the fact this video is randomly resurrected every few years every tim someone finds it and shares.
... every tim... every tim... every TIM....
I see what you did there... :) .... I think. o_0
If you do a UA-cam search of Fonserannes, you'll find a video that does tell the story. The software however will not allow to send you a link. The video concerned does however come with patronising attempts at a French accents, and equally patronising references to hire boats and boaters, plus, I suspect, quite a bit of exageration. It does give you the gist of what happened however. Glad you liked the video - it's still the only one of the slope actually working !
Best Regards,
Chris
I'm here after Tom Scott's video!
The slope only worked for 15 years. The adjacent Fonserannes locks, being 250 years old, still work perfectly.
Thank you, Tim
Thanks for letting Tim use the clip, cool to see the thing working. A crazy feat of engineering
Thats very interesting the Tim Traveller sent me here its one very strange contraption indeed
Just watched a programme called 'Abandoned Engineering' which showed a water slope. I had never seen one, or even knew about them until today!
Today I see that program and ended up here too!
Ahhh~ To be an operator of this thing during calm, warm summers of 80-90s France. Must have been quite a remarkable job.
"I am absolutely thrilled to see your video. I cruised some of the Canal du Midi this summer, June 09, on the barge Anjodi, and heard the story of the Pente d'eau Fonserannes accident. On my return to the states, I googled and googled to find out all that I could about it and posted my trivial little you tube video only yesterday. I told my wife this morning, "Someone, somewhere has an actual video of this thing working, but I will never see it." And today, here you are. Thanks again.
Here from Tim The Traveler recommendations. Nice video Thank-You..
Thank you for sharing the footage with Tim. Here is a thank you comment, accompanied by a thank you like!
Amazing.
Thanks for allowing Tim Traveler to use the footage.
Fascinating! I’m a UK canal nerd, but never heard of a mechanism like this. Thanks for uploading...and letting TimTraveller use it- really helps to understand how it worked...tiny bit bonkers;)
Absolutely fascinating machine. I’ve watched this one after watching Tim’s video. Thanks so much for sharing. Real shame such a brilliant idea had such a short life.
Thanks for letting Tim use your video and for uploading it to the Internet. I watched a few of your other videos. You should make some more and upload again. Cheers!
Another Tim Traveller viewer here! Thanks so much! 🙂
Thankfully this piece of visual medium history still exists, good jobs 👌
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Thank you! i was in Fonserrannes two times and saw the 'pente d'eau' lone and sad. an old man i met there told me that 'it does not work', but i cold not understand why, 'cause my low level of french. you did an historical video.
So the machine was based on a variation of the heavy lift sling cranes for large boats and yachts without the lifting ability, and instead the sling was replaced with a gate and flexible seals that trapped the water and pushed a wall of water along the canal, supporting the boat. The water lost to the leakage of the seals between the gate and canal wall was constantly replenished by the water flowing from the higher body of water.
Thank you for preserving & sharing this Footage! And for lending it to Tim
Thanks for taking this video and sharing it here to preserve this unique transportation method!
Hi, Chris, found you through Tim's video. Thanks for sharing this amazing bit of history with us!
Tim sent me. Thanks for showing us this wierd thing.
Thanks Tim!
Thursday 11 the February 2016 @1:30 pm. I took a walk onto the big blue machine that is laid up at Fonseraines in Béziers. inside it has been vandalized with much of the electrics gone. one of the windows has been smashed too. it's such a shame that such engineering wonders are left to corrode. hopefully later this week I will sneak back aboard and make a video to post onto UA-cam.
Thanks for sharing this and for TT giving the link.
Fantastic to see it in operation! I'm like quite a few others here because The Tim Traveller recommended the video!
I had completely forgotten the sound of the steel plates which were raised as the push boat moved, to establish electrical contact.
Thank you so much !
The Tim Traveler sent me here too!!!
It's an awesome mechanism. I would think some rollercoaster like tracks with a cradle would had been fairly efficient... Though now i think about it that would still require a lock at the top of the ramp. Great interesting video.
This is really neat, I wish I could still take a ride! ...and be living in southern France.
Thanks for posting this it was fascinating!
visited to give you a view because you were mint enough to let tim traveler guy use some of your video and you check your comments, very good thank you and good video
interesting machine, thanks for taking a video of it running !
i'm pretty sure it could be restored and become some sort of tourist attraction. plus it DID work
Tim sent me here. Great video!
As with everyone, the Tim Traveler brought me here
A bit late but thanks for posting it. Until I saw @timtravellers piece I hadn't heard of the slide.
Imagine this one single video wouldn´t exist.
Summer in Southern France in the 90's looks absolutely awesome
Amazing. And I thought the Falkirk Wheel was a mad idea!
Mad but at the same time brilliant!
@@1658iain Falkirk Wheel is brilliantly simple and it works. A lift instead of an escalator.
@@gordonwilson1631 Seen it and been on it a few times... Truly amazing!
@@1658iain I live in Glasgow & not been yet! Top of my list for a visit when our long lockdown is over. Stay safe.
@@gordonwilson1631 Naw! I'm over in Embra... Taken grand kids and visiting cousins on it. Spectacular... combine with a trip to see the Kelpies. You stay safe too.
Beautiful lady on board. I am in love again, yet again.
just come back from fonserrannes and big blue machine is looking a bit sad and vandalised. i did get up to the control room bit of a test for my vertigo. anybody know details of accident? surprised they left it at top and not the bottom of slope.
Amazing, thank you.
I came in watching this video not knowing. You recorded it on my fourth birthday.
Aaww, bless !
nice thanks Tim
Hi, great vid. Do you (or anyone) recall what the song is called? I checked the one youtube lists in the description but I'm almost sure it's something else...
Apparently the "truck" developed a major hydraulic leak and the tires started to slip. This made the machine non operational.
OK I get it now, thanks for video!
Das ist ja unglaublich!
Amazing! Such a sad fate for such an innovation.
Nice Duck!
Tim was right, that was interesting. 😀👍
Tim traveler sent me here !
Dang, missed the exit!
Here after Tim Traveller's video
What did they charge?
They didn't. It was all part of the service. Back in 1990 they had 'Lock' days when you had to use the flight of locks, and 'Waterslope' days when you used the waterslope. When we came back down it was a 'lock' day, so we never got to play on the slope a second time.
How did the water get UP the slope?
It doesn't. Water is fed to the top of the slope (and flight of locks) from further up the canal.
@@chrisdodge4462 But Thats never deep enough for the boats to float right? It wasnt really clear to me from the video how the system really works. but I guess it's a sort of driving lock?
@@MisterMotel the way it worked was the vehicle was mounted on a slope.
It ran through a sloped channel. The vehicle would push water up from the bottom to the top using the gate. The gate would constantly leak water from the bottom so they would let water from the top to replenish it.
@@Ben31337l "Sloped"-placed or arranged in a sloping position; inclined. "Slopped"- past tense of "slop", as to spill from a container; to splash or spill liquid on. C'mon man.
@@coloradostrong I am on mobile so yeah, typos occur.
i love it
been there today
which accident?
Mega Squeegee, thanks Tim Traveller
Tim sent me here aswell 🤙
The video that got recommended to me next: "Elbląg Canal". In a nutshell, put the boat itself on some wheels from underneath and push it up over land
From Tim!
Another viewer from @The Tim Traveller channel visiting for the full vid.
Cool video Tim sent me
Who all are here after watching Tim traveler 😄
Short batteries. Bummer. I would have loved to see how the boats were going out of the canal on top of the hill.
Shame it had a few mechanical problems and was mothballed , it was a pretty good idea to speed up the lock process.
The biggest problem with the whole idea must be that if it breaks down halfway up, your boat is completely stuck until they get it working again... which could take days...
Actually it ran away once..........
Getting a bit more views, thanks to The Tim Traveller :-)
As with everyone, the Tim Traveller brought me here

Modern logistics destroyed so many nice thinks
As they say Thunderbirds are go
Hello,
My name is Charlie and I am contacting you from a post-production company in London. I am currently working on a new series for the Discovery Network. For the next episode in the series we are working on a section which follows the Waterslope at Montech, and the footage you have here is exactly what we are looking for.
How would you feel about licensing the clip for us to include a few shots into our project? We use archive purely as a reference for our viewers and to give them a better understanding of the engineering that took place.
I really hope we can work something out and please contact me at -
charlie.likeashot@gmail.com
All the Best
Charlie
Tim send me
His name Tim-Nice-and-not-Dim. Sorry, Harry Enfield fan. ;-)
You'll never guess how I found this corner of the interneTTT...
*the Tim traveler*
Comic Sans MS
Hi i am from 2033