Construction starts on ‘cat-flap’ barge access at France’s largest container port

Construction is underway on an ambitious engineering project dubbed the cat-flap to give barge access to Le Havre’s outer port.

The $203m construction consists of a 1,800 m channel which will soon be dredged and will link the outer Port 2000 with the historical inner port from where inland vessels can reach the Seine River via canal, which then connects to the French capital, Paris.

According to Alphaliner, the new channel will be flanked by breakwaters to ensure the safe transit of inland barges to and from France’s largest container terminals.