The operators of the lock in Anseremme

This piece of art is located on the Maas in front of the church in Anseremme, next to the hydroelectric power station. 2 abstract figures from Corten steel seem to operate the lock. The maker of the artwork is unknown.

This lock is officially called Sluis 3 Anseremme. The lock is 100 meters long and 12 meters wide, like almost all locks on the Haute-Meuse2. The dam is electromechanical with an upstream buoyancy level of 90.97 meters2. It consists of four openings.

Every five years, maintenance is carried out on the locks between the border with France and Namur. Shipping will be interrupted during that period and mooring will also be prohibited.

Specifically, the nine dams of the High Meuse (Hastière, Waulsort, Anseremme, Dinant, Houx, Hun, Rivière, Tailfer and La Plante) will be opened one after the other, starting in La Plante. The level of the Meuse will then drop 10 centimeters per hour.

At the end of this operation, which will take about 36 hours, the Meuse will have its natural course and maintenance work can start for three weeks. A team from the Department of Nature and Forests of the Walloon administration will rescue the fish that get trapped by the falling water.

The maintenance operation will take place at the beginning of the autumn because the flow rate of the Meuse is at its lowest.

Today (2021) eight to ten boats sail daily on that part of the Meuse.

In Dinant, various cruises on the Meuse are possible between the locks of Dinant and this one.

The Maas is a river that rises in France and flows into the North Sea via Belgium in the Netherlands. It is 950 km long.

Willem Vandenameele