John Cockerill takes part in a complex operation on the Ronquières inclined plane

An essential structure for river navigation on the Charleroi-Brussels canal, the inclined plane at Ronquières (Belgium) suffered a major incident last June, interrupting barge and boat traffic.

The month of June was a busy one for the teams at John Cockerill Services Hainaut. Following the breakage of a lifting cable on the Ronquières inclined plane, a door fell and blocked the barge on it.

This incident brought traffic on the canal to a complete standstill. In order to resolve this delicate situation, John Cockerill’s teams from Hainaut intervened quickly on site. Three cranes (700 tonnes, 450 tonnes and 350 tonnes) were needed to carry out this highly complex and unprecedented lifting operation for our teams. After a series of manoeuvres requiring skill, coordination and precision, the door was placed back in its enclave.

Vincent Dolne-Pholien, Head of Public Activities and Project Manager, led the teams: “The timing was very tight, and given what was at stake, it was absolutely essential that everything was perfectly coordinated. The main operation of putting the door back in place had to be carried out in a single day because, for safety reasons, it could not be interrupted once the doors had been suspended from the cranes“.

This impressive operation went perfectly. Navigation was then able to resume, thanks in particular to the technical expertise and skills of the John Cockerill teams.