The high-capacity grand gabarit waterway from Saint-Jean-de-Losne to Lyon amply justifies this separate entry, not just for the character of the river and dimensions of its locks and channels, but also as an itinerary. It has been developed as a high-capacity waterway navigable by barges carrying up to tonnes, as well as the increasingly popular m long river cruising ships.
The 3. Natural navigability made merchants an easy prey for local lords and tax collectors, and chains were laid across the river in many locations, to collect tolls.
The last, at Seurre, was completed in Normally, commercial traffic uses VHF 10 and a listening watch on that channel can provide useful warnings. There are a number of places to refuel alongside the river itself, as well as various service stations nearby. And, in addition to the various places detailed below, there are many other places to moor, although the river is shallow in some places, alongside some banks.
All the new locks measure by 12m and are controlled by lights. Boats are locked through after a maximum wait of 20 minutes if no commercial barge has appeared in the meantime.
There are several mooring dolphins on the approach to each lock, some of which have gangways for access to the bank. However, these were designed for vessels exceeding 38m, making mooring awkward for a cruiser. Otherwise there is no difficulty in negotiating these big locks, which have step bollards set into the chamber walls.
