Canal de l’Ourcq

The Canal de l’Ourcq is a dead-straight, deep-cut trench of water stretching toward the northeast edge of Paris. Napoleon ordered its construction in eighteen oh two to provide the city with clean drinking water and a way to transport construction materials. Pierre-Simon Girard, the engineer in charge, spent years wrestling with the stubborn limestone of the basin. Eventually, the canal brought barges filled with heavy stone into the city center, fueling the rapid expansion of the nineteenth century.