Barrage Vauban in Strasbourg
At one area of the Petite France quarter of Strasbourg, there seems to be a confluence of various canals which merge into a river. There used to be a defensive structure here which follows the shape of Grande Île in Strasbourg. The covered bridge is long gone but there are still defensive towers here. I can count around four defensive towers, I think there were more of them before but these are the only ones left. You can’t really climb the towers either and I’m not sure I want to. The don’t seem to be clean or maintained.
Walking Towards Barrage Vauban
If you look further downstream, there seems to be a covered bridge. Apparently, this is the Barrage Vauban. A barrage functions much like a dam but I think it is more active in regulating the water level here. Just like the previous covered bridges here, the Barrage Vauban serve a defensive purpose. Imagine that the Barrage Vauban controls the water level behind it. In the event of an attack downstream, the water can be released thus flooding the area. These types of defensive structures seem to be common in Europe. I believe Amsterdam also has the same facilities. I thought that the barrage didn’t seem to be that impressive, it just looks like a covered bridge but since I was already here, I might as well have a look.
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