The canal from Brussels to Charleroi through the village of Ronquieres opened for 70-tonne vessels in 1832, and by 1914 had been enlarged to take barges of 300 tonnes. In the 1960s improvements to enable it to take standard 1350-tonne Eurobarges, included an electrically-powered inclined plane, 1432 m long with a 68 m rise, completed in 1968. Facilities for visitors were provided from the start and boat trips traverse the stretch of canal, with locks and a tunnel which became redundant when the incline was built.