is a river in eastern France (Franche-Comté, Lorraine, Burgundy, Rhône-Alpes). The length of the river is 482 km. Its catchment area is 29 950 km², of which 1310 km² are in Switzerland.
The river rises to the west of the Vosges in the Vosges department at an altitude of 405 m in the commune of Vioménil . The spring rises to the surface in a canal and feeds two pools of water from a low-lying wash. Immediately downstream of the spring, the upper Saône flows westwards through a wooded area to Bonvillet . From there, it flows first south-westwards and forms a large, narrow bend in the river at Monthureux-sur-Saône. At Châtillon-sur-Saône, it changes direction to the south-east and reaches the border with the Haute-Saône department at Jonvelle. South of Corre, it joins a tributary of the Côney and the Vosges Canal for about 70 km. From the confluence, it is navigable and is called the Little Saône.
The Lanterne joins it at Conflandey and the Ognon , which is about the same length, joins it at Heuilley-sur-Saône after about 215 km. There, it crosses the border into the Côte-d’Or department. On reaching the Saône-et-Loire department, it joins its largest tributary, the Doubsto, after a distance of 300 km. At this point, it is about 150 km longer than the Saône and has more water. Hence it is called the Great Saône.
From the mouth of the Seille, it forms the border with the department of Ain and north of Belleville it reaches the department of Rhône. At Lyon, it joins the Rhône as a right-hand tributary .
History of expansion
The development of the Saône has taken place in several stages. After the opening of the Rhine-Rhône canal in 1833, the route from the mouth of the Doubs at Verdun-sur-le-Doubs to Chalon-sur-Saône was extended. This was so that 2 ships of the Freycinet class could be locked at the same time. In 1844, the steamer could sail the route from Lyon to Chalon-sur-Saône even at low tide . The route to Ray-sur-Saône was extended by 1855, to Port-sur-Saône later. The section from Lyon to Chalon-sur-Saône was drawn by tugboats in 1855, the rest by horses.
By 1981 the river to Auxonne was widened for ships up to 185 m and 5,000 t, but a water depth of 3 m cannot always be guaranteed.
