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Paris: Canal Saint-Martin reveals its dirty secrets

Bikes, scooters, shopping trolleys... and a gun? The mammoth cleaning job on the Canal Saint-Martin is turning up some interesting finds. See them here.

Paris: Canal Saint-Martin reveals its dirty secrets
A woman inspecting the goods in the emptying canal. Photo: AFP

As you may have already noticed, the famed Canal Saint-Martin has almost been emptied. 

It's part of a huge cleaning project, the like of which hasn't been seen for 14 years. 

Engineers erected a small and unspectacular dam at the top of the canal by Place de la Bataille de Stalingrad on Monday, and around 90,000 cubic metres of water have since been emptied gradually into the River Seine.

If you want to know more about why and how they're doing it, click here.

The draining has already revealed several pieces of intrigue, including a handgun spotted by The Local on Monday afternoon (see pictures below). Police arrived soon after to take the weapon. 

Further along the canal, curious Parisians are flocking to the bridges to see for themselves what the canal-bed is hiding. 

Here's a closer look at what's turned up so far, including many a Velib' bicycle, several scooters, and thousands of empty wine bottles. 

 

Tens of thousands of fish moved from Paris canal

 

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