The Koppenberg in the Flemish Ardennes is not only the setting of the Tour of Flanders but also forms the background of railway line 85 between Leupegem and Herseaux near the French border.
The Koppenberg in the Flemish Ardennes is not only the setting of the Tour of Flanders but also forms the background of railway line 85 between Leupegem and Herseaux near the French border.
The ten-kilometre-long railway line 102 cut through the Borinage and connected several coal mines between Saint-Ghislain and Frameries.
The former grandeur of Charleroi still resonates in Art Deco buildings and modernist gems such as the colourful newspaper kiosk by architect Léon Coton.
Unlike the Belgian cities of Liège, Antwerp, Ghent or Brussels, Charleroi never hosted a World Fair. Therefore, the smaller-scale Universal Exhibition of Charleroi in 1911 was no less ambitious.
On the eve of the Second World War, the former petroleum port of Antwerp was equipped with a brand new network of above-ground pipelines.
In the valley of the Meuse, squeezed between railway line 125 and the river itself, lies a brick ensemble built in 1901 on behalf of Les Moulins de Namur et de Jambes.
In the 1960s, Flanders had its first steel factory along the Ghent-Terneuzen canal. There, Sidmar (Sidérurgie Maritime) rose from the ground. Today, it is the home of the only active blast furnaces in Belgium.
The Ronquières Inclined Plane spans 68 meters and thus replaces sixteen locks on the canal between Brussels and Charleroi.
Neither the city of Charleroi nor the Walloon Region wants to release the money to maintain blast furnace 4 in Marchienne-au-Pont and preserve it for future generations.
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While infrastructure is crucial for any country's smooth functioning, Belgium boasts some examples of construction that leave locals and tourists scratching their heads, like useless tunnels, bridges, and dead-end roads.
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