Écluses des Récollets

The Écluse des Récollets is a lock on the Canal Saint-Martin marked by a heavy iron footbridge that pivots to let boats pass through the water. It opened in eighteen twenty-five to help barges bypass the steep drop in the riverbed. In the eighteen sixties, the locks were automated and widened to accommodate larger coal and grain shipments. The bridge keeps the neighborhood moving, and the water levels rise and fall with the steady rhythm of a nineteenth century industrial machine.