page_title: Transport in France
section_title: Waterways/Canals
hierarchical_section_title: Transport in France / Waterways/Canals
caption_attribution_description: Description =Automoteur sur le canal Saint-Denis Source =Photo taken by Remi Jouan Date =Mars 2007 Author =Remi Jouan
context_page_description: Transportation in France relies on one of the densest networks in the world with 146 km of road and 6.2 km of rail lines per 100 km². It is built as a web with Paris at its center. Rail, road, air and water are all widely developed forms of transportation in France.
context_section_description: The French natural and man-made waterways network is the largest in Europe extending to over 8,500 kilometres (5,300 mi) of which (VNF, English: Navigable Waterways of France), the French navigation authority, manages the navigable sections. Some of the navigable rivers include the Loire, Seine and Rhône. The assets managed by VNF comprise 6,700 kilometres (4,200 mi) of waterways, made up of 3,800 kilometres (2,400 mi) of canals and 2,900 kilometres (1,800 mi) of navigable rivers, 494 dams, 1595 locks, 74 navigable aqueducts, 65 reservoirs, 35 tunnels and a land area of 800 km² (310 sq mi). Two significant waterways not under VNF's control are the navigable sections of the River Somme and the Brittany Canals, which are both under local management.
  Approximately 20% of the network is suitable for commercial boats of over 1000 tonnes and the VNF has an ongoing programme of maintenance and modernisation to increase depth of waterways, widths of locks and headroom under bridges to support France's strategy of encouraging freight onto water.
caption: Barge on the Canal Saint-Denis
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