Canal du Centre (Belgium)

Old section of the canal, and boat lift no. 4

View of new canal section, from the Strépy-Thieu lift

The Canal du Centre is a canal in Belgium linking the waterways of the Meuse and Scheldt rivers. It has a total length of 20.9 km.

An old canal section between the towns of La Louvière and Thieu contains four hydraulic boat lifts, dating from 1888 to 1917, which are now on the UNESCO World Heritage list (see Lifts on the old Canal du Centre). These lifts have been bypassed by a newer stretch of canal, containing the Strépy-Thieu boat lift, which was the tallest in the world when it opened in 2002.