Talk:Canal du Midi

Untitled
This article is correct in most respects, but confused. The Canal du Midi is not the Canal des Deux Mers. It is one half of the 'Deux Mers'. The other half is the Canal Lateral a la Garonne, which goes from Toulouse through Moissac and Agen to the River Garonne, east of Bordeaux. The two canals are joined but otherwise quite separate pieces of civil engineering. The Midi - the work of Paul Riquet, who is justly honoured throughout Languedoc - is 17th century. The Lateral a la Garonne is 19th century. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.5.162.56 (talk) 08:47, 6 November 2007 (UTC)

Not a bad article, but it wallows in a passive voice, particularly in the History Section. For example:

This was the problem that Pierre-Paul Riquet, a rich tax-farmer in the Languedoc region, and who thus knew the region intimately, believed in 1662 that he could solve. He first had to persuade Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the finance minister of Louis XIV which he did through his friendship with the Archbishop of Toulouse.

would read better like this:

Pierre-Paul Riquet persuaded Louis XIV's finance minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to finance his proposal to supply the canal with water with the construction of a a huge dam at Saint Ferréol.

ok, even that is rough. But starting paragraphs with oblique "This was the problem..." or "So at the age of 63..." phrases is awkward. And biographical details of Riquet's life might be more appropriate in a separate article about him. And I am not sure if Riquet's contribution was financing, engineering, or both. This article is about the canal, not 17th century politics. Maybe in book format that would work, but this is an encylcopedia.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Canal_du_Midi/Comments" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 205.167.199.125 (talk) 22:42, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

Bridgewater Canal
I wondered if might be an interesting side note, as the Canal du Midi appears to have been an influence in the construction of the Bridgewater Canal? Parrot of Doom (talk) 13:34, 14 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Considering that Canal du Midi opened 80 years prior to the Bridgewater Canal and is 8 times longer, your claim is highly unlikely. The Canal du Midi was originally dreamed of by the Roman emperor Nero. Actually, the British engineers found their inspiration for the Bridgewater after visiting the French Canal du Midi. This is clearly explained in Bridgewater Canal. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.57.12.119 (talk) 10:09, 6 September 2008 (UTC)

Model for Panama Canal
The previous response to the previous query seems to have taken the question backwards. The first question was did the Canal du Midi influence the Bridgewater effort. My question is did the Canal du Midi, with its dam and lake, influence the Panama Canal? McCullough says Frenchman Baron Godin de Lepinay's Panama "ideas were eloquently expressed and uncannily prophetic." Did he get them from the Canal du Midi? Can more than parallels be made? Thanks. JMOprof (talk) 22:20, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

Translation Notes
There is a discrepancy in the opening dates for the canal. The French wikipedia says 1682 where the English one says 1681 each from different sources. I do not have the means to go back to the sources to check. 1681 seems more likely but still unsure. In the translation I have left the discrepancy in the text for later correction.

As far as possible I have preserved the text from both English and French but have eliminated duplicate information in favour of whichever is the more detailed and referenced version. I have included all photos from both versions but have moved them closer to the text to which they relate where possible. Samrong01 (talk) 12:38, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

The Canal du Midi as a model
This paragraph has a few problems (in boldface): "The Canal du Midi is part of the great achievements of the end of the 17th century. It was also in the thoughts of Descartes who thought that nature could not be thwarted but could be used, put it in his system [sic]. This was the "world machine" for Descartes. Riquet had understood hydraulic system of the Black Mountain and was able to use it to control the Canal du Midi.[103] King Louis XIV who was the sponsor also left a mark of his commitment to greatness." A non sequitur followed by a missing article followed by an irrelevant reference to the "greatness" of Louis XIV! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Autodidact1 (talk • contribs) 08:32, 24 October 2013 (UTC)

Start class?
I'm curious how this extensive article was recently rated Start class? Perhaps it is because so many of the references come from the one book? M.boli (talk) 19:08, 5 December 2013 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 10:48, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20071009033622/http://www.sunfrance.net/canal/index.php3?id_gmenu=487&code_menu=can-his-hom to http://www.sunfrance.net/canal/index.php3?id_gmenu=487&code_menu=can-his-hom
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20081207120221/http://www.iiahmn.fr/Irrigation/cammazes/ to http://www.iiahmn.fr/Irrigation/cammazes/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20071020211336/http://www.brl.fr/SPIP/IMG/pdf/4pGanguise.pdf to http://www.brl.fr/SPIP/IMG/pdf/4pGanguise.pdf
 * Added tag to http://urbamet.documentation.equipement.gouv.fr/documents/CETTEXPN000876/CETTEXPN000876_1.pdf
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