François BÉTARD, Université de Paris, UMR 8586 Prodig, France
Cédric BEAUDOIN, Eure-et-Loir Nature, France
Clélia BILODEAU, Université de Paris, UMR 7533 Ladyss, France
Eva CHÉRAMY, Eure-et-Loir Nature, France
Céline CLAUZEL, Université de Paris, UMR 7533 Ladyss, France
Fabienne DUGAST, CNRS, UMR 8167 Orient et Méditerranée, France
Jacques GALLAND, Association pour l'étude et la sauvegarde des vestiges du canal Louis XIV, France
Hervé GALLÉPY, Association pour l'étude et la sauvegarde des vestiges du canal Louis XIV, France
Etienne GRÉSILLON, Université de Paris, UMR 7533 Ladyss, France
Isabelle LE TELLIER-HEITZ, Aird'eco-Drone, France
Albert MARSOT, Association pour l'étude et la sauvegarde des vestiges du canal Louis XIV, France
Patrick MULET, Eure-et-Loir Nature, France
Paul PASSY, Université de Paris, UMR 8586 Prodig, France
Built at the end of the 17th century (1685-1694), the French Royal Canal Louis XIV is an unfinished hydraulic structure for supplying water to the fountains of the Palace of Versailles, SW of Paris. To divert the waters from the Eure River, the projected 80-km long canal has been excavated on a maximum depth of 2.60 m and a bottom width of 4.90 m, following the contour lines of the low-relief topography. In addition to man-made excavation work, the project has required the construction of earthworks and embankments as well as masonry structures (dams, aqueducts, bridges, tunnels) to compensate for the lower altitude of the plateau and/or to step over the major valleys, including the Eure valley itself. More than three centuries after the abandonment of this gigantic hydraulic work, scattered remnants are preserved throughout a crop-dominated landscape where they form a discontinuous, linear heritage site of multifaceted interests. The Maintenon aqueduct and the Boizard dam, in particular, are part of a stone heritage classified as Historic Monuments. The stone supply for the monumental aqueduct was ensured by sandstone, millstone and limestone quarries located several kilometers East, and transported by boat through a secondary network of navigable canals built in two tributary valleys of the Eure River. West of Maintenon, large embankments and associated excavation pits constitute a complex of anthropogenic landforms underlined by an 8 km-long forest corridor, thus contrasting with the flat topography and open landscape of the surrounding cultivated plateau. The present-day forest ecosystem that colonizes the remnants of the abandoned canal forms a wildlife corridor associated with a rich biodiversity heritage, including patches of calcareous grasslands, bat hibernacula and a dense network of forest ponds. As part of the interdisciplinary research project "Connect-Eure", a new methodological approach aims to comprehend the imbedded heritages of this canal.
Mots clés : Stone heritage|Hydraulic structure|Anthropogenic landform|Historic monument|Biodiversity heritage
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