Editing Cambrai (section)

====Drainage work====
[[File:Cambrai CPA porte des arquets escaut.jpg|thumb|right|Entry of the [[Scheldt]] into the city through the gate of Arquets (postcard from the early 20th century)]]

Cambrai is built on the edge of the wide marshy area of the Scheldt Valley encircling the western part of the city, the {{Interlanguage link multi|Château de Selles|fr}} to the north at the gate of the Holy Sepulchre in the south: Wet gardens, ponds, meadows, ponds and marsh formed a flood zone sometimes also used for the defence of the city. The suburb of Cantimpré, linking the ancient heart to the Scheldt below to the west, had raised several metres.<ref group=a>p.61</ref> The two arms of the Scheldt (Escaut), the Escautins, are separated before entering the medieval town: The Escauette and the Clicotiau, which bathed the walls of the old urban core. These streams were probably due to man's hand because they do not correspond to natural landforms. However, it is unknown whether their origin dates back to the Roman era or is from a later time.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

Throughout the [[Middle Ages]], and again in modern times, the Scheldt and its arms required constant work: Repair of levees, enhancement of pavement, straightening of the bed, as well as the digging of ditches to regulate the course of the river, prevent floods and ensure as far as possible a steady water level, on which the mills and tanneries depended. Despite these works, floods were frequent.<ref group=a>p.63</ref> The absorption of rainwater and household water descending from the upper areas of the city was also a problem. Bouly spoke in 1842, in his ''History of Cambrai and le Cambrésis'', of "fast torrents [stormwater] formed today by rolling up the Scheldt".<ref>
{{cite book| first1 = Eugène| last1 = Bouly| title = Histoire de Cambrai et du Cambrésis| publisher = Hattu, Libraire-Éditeur|location=Cambrai |year = 1842| volume = 1 | page = 82 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=1rg9AAAAcAAJ&q=histoire+de+cambrai}}</ref> In the Middle Ages the "flow of el kayère" (or "flow of the chair"),<ref group=note>So named because of the neighboring [[pillory|infamy chair]]</ref> close to the current ''Grand-Place'', was dug a reservoir for "water courses of the falling waters of the sky", i.e. to control the flow of rainwater. In the 19th century aqueducts were built to carry these waters, and the streets were paved. Furthermore, in 1926 a drainage sewer was built at ''Rue Blériot''.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

The draining of the wetlands that surround the town began in 1804. The work ended in 1951 with the drying of the small stream of Saint Benoît near the Liberty Stadium, itself built on this wetland which dominated the ancient city walls, and in 1953 with the covering of the Clicotiau.<ref group="a" name="p.62"/>