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Near the town of La Louvière you will find the famous boat lift of Strépy-Thieu .It took 20 years to finish the lift, which hauls boats 73 meters from one canal to another. It can carry up to 1,350 tons and is as big as a football field. The lift has a steel tank on each side. They are 118.6 metres long, 16.5 metres wide and 8 metres deep. The mass of the lifts is 2,200 tons when they are empty. The total mass of the tank plus water varies depending on the water level between 7,200 and 8,400 tons. Each tank is attached to its counterweights by 144 cables. The boats sail to the lift tanks in the same way they would enter ordinary canal locks. But after the lock has been closed on one side, the tank starts to crawl upwards. Boats are lifted with water up to the top floor, which takes about half an hour. Strépy-Thieu - Province of Hainaut - Wallonia - Belgium