A revolution in river transport in France

It is an understatement to say that he is proud of this “site of the century”. Director Partnership and Territory of the Société du Canal Seine-Nord Europe, Pierre-Yves Biet is the VRP of this gigantic project which aims to connect the seine basin with the very dense river network in northern France and Benelux .

Former manager at the SNCF, this fifties is convinced that the train and the boat constitute supports of the future for the transport of goods. “This project is a major event for river freight,” he says. This will strengthen the competitiveness of the sector and set it in motion. ”

One thing is certain: if this new river is as inexhaustible as Pierre-Yves Biet is about him, his future will be bright.

Of work until 2030

The canal is just starting to be built around Compiègne (Oise). Locks, bridges, maintenance center … The multiple work started a little over two years ago should be completed in 2030, if the deadlines are held.

“We are only at the beginning but, at the peak of the site, several thousand people will work on its realization,” explains Laurent Reinhard, project manager at Arcadis. Behind this engineer in orange t-shirt and safety vest, workers are busy to finish the fittings of the new bed of the Oise, moved to several kilometers near the village of Montmacq.

Will river freight finally know its renewal? Nowadays, it represents only 2 % of internal transport, according to the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion. A shame for a country that has thirteen rivers over 200 km long.

Compected by the rise of railways in the 19th century, then by that of road transport in the 20th century, it also paid the price for its fragmentation. For centuries, our country has experienced swords by regions, adapted to each river basin, which has complicated the creation of a homogeneous network on the territory.

Twenty-five kilometers of ecological banks

The Seine-Nord Europe canal opens a new historical perspective, and Laurent Reinhard is very proud to participate in so ambitious work. In the sector close to a dozen dwellings, the incessant noises of this stirring are a few dissatisfied among the residents. But the project manager claims that here everything has been thought of to best preserve blue gold: “What you see there is the future savings basin that will recover water during the emptying of The lock to reuse it with the following filling. ”

In fact, all the promoters of the project assure it: the canal will be virtuous. Twenty-five kilometers of ecological banks have been planned along its career and around sixty compensatory sites will push in the coming years to reduce the impact of the site on flora and fauna.

Pierre-Yves Biet wishes to show us one of them. Direction a surrounding meadow of the Cistercian abbey of Ourscamp. “Our goal is to wood it,” he explains, walking in the middle of the trees. It is a way of revaluing this terrain and fighting global warming. »»

A collective of inhabitants opposed to the dam

On the way back, however, a sign “no to the dam” suggests that the ecological argument does not take from everyone. It was placed there by “mega canal no thank you”, a collective of inhabitants of the region opposing it for several years. “We are told that these works are ecological, but it is a cynical discourse, laments Bernard , graying hair engineer. This project will destroy wetlands and hundreds of hectares of agricultural land. ”

Organizations and files scattered on the table of a bar in the city center of Compiègne, he assures with his comrades that the project is not as “green” as we can say. The costs themselves would be underestimated. Valued at 5.1 billion euros, they could approach the ten billion according to these opponents. The last 89 kilometers, however, won their environmental authorization decree on August 9, 2024.

Need infrastructure

Downstream from Paris, the island of the Impressionists of Chatou (Yvelines) was a source of inspiration for the painter Auguste Renoir and his family. This small green space has housed a wide valve dam and a lock through which nine million tons of goods have since 2014.

The water empties there and fills up there throughout the day to help the boatmen to go to Le Havre (Seine-Maritime) or Paris. Jean-Michel Pelaz is one of them. Today, he passes the empty lock to come and fill, a few kilometers further, his boat. His merchandise of the day? Rubble.

While waiting for the lock to fill up, he invites us on board. The boatmen are often owners of their ship and live there with their families, sailing according to less and less juicy contracts. “We depend a lot on the building and agriculture, which represent 80 % of our goods,” explains the fifties. When these sectors are less well, we feel it. ”

But there are other officials. “All our rivers are not as well endowed as the Seine in infrastructure,” recognizes Éloi Flipo, responsible for development within French sailors (VNF). This executive has been working for thirteen years in this public establishment managing a large majority of rivers open to transporting France. He knows the sector well: the east area of ​​France is generally endowed with a powerful river network, and it will be all the more so with the opening of the Seine-Nord Europe canal.

But the Loire, a very wild river, is not always passable for boats. Poor parent, the Garonne attracts only too few investments. However, it is not just a question of major projects.

“It is a good thing to mesh the territory with the Seine-Nord Europe canal, admits Jean-Marc Samuel, president of acting for the river, a federation which brings together actors from the waterway. But the fact that we obscure the rest of me, when there is so much to do. The entire network must be maintained. ” This training carpenter ended up changing the edge after participating in the development of a boat. Since then, he has become a boatman and believes hard as a iron in the generalization of the transport of goods on the waters. After thirty years to sail from port to port, Jean-Marc Samuel knows that the battle will also be played on the quality of infrastructure allowing the loading of goods.

A point that the teams of the company of the Seine-Nord Europe canal ensure that they have taken into account. To strengthen the attractiveness of the 107 km of the canal, the route will thus be marked out by four interior ports-in Noyon, Nesle, Péronne and Cambrai-Marquion. The hand placed on the control table of his ship, the Necton, Jean-Michel Pelaz does not hide his dissatisfaction: “What I would like is that the state injects more money to revitalize the whole network.”

However, the public budget devoted to the sector has soared in recent years. From 170 million euros in 2019, the French Navigable State endowment now reaches more than 300 million per year.

Five times less CO2 than truck transport

There remains one observation: the French river is still too little used. The reason? “It lacks visibility with companies, but also public prescribers who do not always know that this possibility exists,” regrets Éloi Flipo.

The VNF manager insists on the need to better communicate on his advantages and, above all, to do pedagogy. “It is a mode of transport that is certainly slow but extremely reliable. He knows very little delays and very few boats accidents. The costs are fairly equivalent to those of trucks, even if the experimental phase is expensive and this amount depends on the type of goods. »»

The sector can count on another asset: it is in tune with the times. This mode of transport emits up to five times less CO2 than a truck transport. Ecolo, the river therefore has all the assets to become the place of the future of the transit of goods.

Better air quality in our cities

On the island of Chatou, a new boat arrives near the dam. “Even if they represent the majority of the products transported, it is not only gravel, sand or cereals that pass through here,” says Vincent Morel, head of the exploitation subdivision of the territorial unit of route of the loops of The Seine at VNF. In recent years, the Swedish company IKEA has transit its furniture in the Paris region by water. ”

Urban river transport is on the rise. Better air quality in our cities, opening up the road network … There are many advantages for metropolises, but also for businesses. “There is enormous potential growth in the sector,” said Jules Alonso, sales manager and development of Fludis, a young urban logistical company. “We deliver coffee, office automation and soon, packages,” he said.

Part of the French cities could absorb this new market. The large Parisian quays, for example, require little investments to be used. Their use can even bring money to municipalities. Companies opting for urban river are also winning. This little polluting mode of transport allows them to communicate on their decarbonized logistics and therefore to green their image.

Double blow: it has a price often equivalent to road transport and it is, in certain urban areas congestioned, faster: over the last kilometers, the goods can be delivered with bikes-cargo. Who knows? If urban river transport unclogs roads, its development could even one day cause traffic jams … on cycle paths!