Installation for accelerating navigation of a water ramp and method relating thereto

Installation enabling the passage of boats through a change of level on an inland waterway by means of a water ramp connecting, through an inclined channel, two reaches respectively situated upstream and downstream and comprising boat storage basins for accommodating boats awaiting their turn before proceeding into the inclined channel, the upstream reach being provided with a tilting gate for retaining the water, whilst a pusher, provided with a transverse mask retaining a water-wedge on which a boat to be moved floats, is movable along the channel to ensure the transfer of said boat from the downstream reach to the upstream reach and vice versa, the retaining gate of the upstream reach being installed at a certain distance beyond the upstream end of the inclined channel and a second retractable gate being arranged substantially at the end of the inclined channel, these two gates defining between them an intermediate horizontal reach, separating the upstream end of the inclined channel and the upstream basin, said installation comprising runways for the pusher driving the mask, said runways being extended beyond the lock-walls of the inclined channel along the banks of the intermediate reach, and means to enable the passage of said pusher from the inclined channel to the intermediate reach and vice versa, as well as the travel of said pusher along the intermediate reach.