The locks are no longer operational, but the canal is navigable from Niffer until Kembs.
The Grand Canal produces hydroelectric power at Kembs, Ottmarsheim, Fessenheim and Vogelgrun, supplying electricity to one of the most heavily industrialized regions in France and even to Germany.
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It is 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) long between Kembs and Vogelgrun, and provides access to the region from the Rhine River, Basel in Switzerland, and the North Sea for barges of up to 1,350 metric tons.
“Die Bedeutung des Rheinstauwerks Kembs für die Abwasseranlage und den Grundwasserstand der Stadt Basel und die zur Vermeidung hygienischer Misstände notwendigen Massnahmen”.
In its circular form, a great rarity, the abbey church strongly resembled the church of Ottmarsheim near Kembs, an outstanding example of primitive Romanesque architecture and a faithful replica, only smaller, of the Palatine Chapel in Aachen.
The Kembs-Niffer Branch Canal is a French canal connecting the Grand Canal d'Alsace at Kembs to the Canal du Rhône au Rhin.
Kembs |
The site of Florimont has been occupied since the Roman period, probably by a lookout tower charged with supervising the movement of troops on their way connecting Mandeure in Doubs to Augst and Kembs in Haut-Rhin.