And if sailing on the Tarn from Montauban to Albi was not just a dream

When will there be long cruises on the Tarn river? Clearly, our region relies on river tourism. The “Canal du Midi” brand is in the process of being built and the department of Haute-Garonne is in the process of creating a mixed union for the navigability of the Tarn. The signing is scheduled for the department on May 25th.

It all started with work on the Villemur-sur-Tarn lock. The elected representatives of the community of municipalities have asked that the lock can again allow the passage of boats. Jean Marc Dumoulin is the mayor of Villemur-sur-Tarn and President of the community of communes Val-Aïgo. It was he who pushed for this navigability project around Villemur, hoping that the network would gradually expand.

Work on the locks

Formerly, before the railroad, the Tarn was obviously navigable. Today, there are barges that anchor near Albi and navigate about twenty kilometers. There are also a few short cruises around Montauban. But that’s all. The boats are blocked as in Bessières for example by numerous hydroelectric dams.

In Villemur-sur-Tarn, an EDF subsidiary was to launch major works to repair the dam. The town hall has engaged in a standoff. All right, she said, for the work, but on condition that the boats can pass the lock again. This is where the idea of ​​the mixed union for navigability on the Tarn started. With a port project in Villemur and between 10 to 17 km of walk on the river towards Albi and Gaillac. Contacts with cruise ship owners have already been made.

But the idea is obviously to push with the union to start work on the locks in the other direction, towards Montauban. Because if we get there it is the door open to the Garonne and the Canal du Midi. A junction that will take a long time to set up, very expensive no doubt. But a formidable asset for river tourism.

Many pitfalls

All these projects will be valid when the Mirepoix-sur-Tarn bridge will obviously have been rebuilt.

The Tarn is a complicated river to develop for the river because it has very steep banks. It also has the problem of very strong floods on the Tarn from September to May. So seaworthiness would only be possible in a short period of time.

The work on the Magdelaine-sur-Tarn lock will cost 1.2 million euros. Half for an EDF subsidiary and 500,000 euros for the Haute-Garonne department, which is quite involved in this file.

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