Europe’s brand new incredible £4.3bn canal that will be the ‘continent’s Suez’

Construction has begun in on the revolutionary Seine-Nord Europe Canal (SNEC), after 20 years of political stalemate.

The first new French waterway to be built in over half a century is expected to give the European economy a boost. The canal comes with a hefty price tag of €5.1bn (£4.3bn), an economical burden to be shared by the French government, local authorities and the .

Upon its completion, scheduled for 2030, the 107km (66-mile) route will connect the Oise River to the Dunkirk-Escaut Canal.

The SNEC project aims to alleviate a European transport bottleneck and facilitate trade between three major European countries – France, and the .

This will enable trade barges to bypass the congestion of the narrower Canal du Nord, making it faster and more efficient to transport goods by water and reducing road traffic in France by a million heavy goods vehicles annually.

French officials have long sought to replace the Canal du Nord route, which with its narrow gauge limits the size of vessels that can cross it.

Jérôme Dezobry, president of the executive board of the Société du Canal Seine-Nord Europe (SCSNE), likened the new canal to a “move from small roads to a motorway”.

The SNEC was initially approved in 2003, but work only began last summer following clashes over funding and issues with the route itself.

The new canal will pass through several World War I battlefields, where it is believed that the remains of approximately 100,000 soldiers are yet to be discovered.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) hopes the canal project will provide the opportunity to recover the bodies of the soldiers through a series of excavations.

The CWGC has commissioned an expansion of the Loos British Cemetery in Pas-de-Calais, creating room for up to 1,200 bodies, including those unearthed during canal-related digs.

Philippe Bourdon, Operations Director at Arcadis France, highlighted the enormity of the canal project, noting its vast scale includes “as many as 60 bridges, three canal bridges, seven locks, and 700 hectares of environmental plantation”.

The ambitious canal project has also drawn criticism. The French equivalent of has voiced its opposition, accusing the plan of prioritising economic growth over “ecological purpose”.

Environmental campaigners have also questioned whether the canal will significantly cut CO2 emissions, as claimed by the canal executives.