Belgium’s gravity-defying boat lifts reach new heights

The Strépy-Thieu boat lift is the heavyweight champion of waterway engineering: a mechanical colossus that hoists ships skyward like a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat. But it’s just one act in a centuries-old spectacle of canal ingenuity. From 19th century hydraulic lifts that still glide like clockwork to the Ronquières conveyor-belt-for-boats, Belgians have turned their stubborn landscape into a stage for gravity-defying transport.