Écluse du Temple

The Écluse du Temple features a heavy cast-iron swing bridge spanning the lock gates of the Canal Saint-Martin. Engineers built this lock in eighteen twenty-five to help boats navigate the elevation change between the Seine and the northern canal network. In the nineteen eighties, the city planned to pave over the canal for a highway, but local protests stopped the project. Today, this lock remains a functioning piece of industrial infrastructure, raising and lowering boats in the heart of the city.