ABSTRACT
The manuscript published in this chapter is an important document that has remained unrecognized with respect to the great technological controversy over the Picardy underground canal project, in the late eighteenth century. It actually consists of the report condemning this problematical innovation of canalisation techniques, supported by experiments carried out on the resistance of fluids on behalf of the d'Alembert, Condorcet and Bossut commission appointed by Turgot in 1775. Map intended to prove the utility of the Picardy Underground Canal allowing navigation from the North Sea, Holland and Flanders to the middle of France without going through the Channel. The report by d'Alembert's commission had in fact stirred up a scandal, and was most likely the cause of the discretion surrounding the document. While refraining from commenting on the key issue of the water supply, the report condemned as a luxury for the nation the Picardy Canal, as an impracticable project for reasons of construction and economics.
