The river Thielle (french: La Thielle, or La Thièle, german: Zihl), is a tributary to the

Aare The Aare () or Aar () is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhine comprises about , during which distance it desce ...

, in the Swiss Seeland. The Thielle results from the merging of the

Orbe Orbe (; la, Urba; older german: Orbach, ; frp, Orba) is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud. It was the seat of the former district of Orbe and is now part of the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois. History Orbe is first mentioned about 2 ...

and

Talent Talent has two principal meanings: * Talent (measurement), an ancient unit of mass and value * Talent (skill), a group of aptitudes useful for some activities; talents may refer to aptitudes themselves or to possessors of those talents Talent ma ...

, northeast of the little city of

in the Swiss

canton of Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms ...

. It flows as a channel northeastwards through an intensively cultivated plain called "

Plaine de l'Orbe Plaine may refer to: * Plaine (river), a tributary of the river Meurthe in France * Plaine, Bas-Rhin, a commune in Alsace in north-eastern France * Plaine-Haute, a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France * Pla ...

" and flows after only 9 km into the Lake of Neuchâtel at

Yverdon-les-Bains Yverdon-les-Bains () (called Eburodunum and Ebredunum during the Roman era) is a municipality in the district of Jura-Nord vaudois of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is the seat of the district. The population of Yverdon-les-Bains, , w ...

. The natural course of the river was considerably modified during the

Jura water correction The correction of the waters of the Swiss Jura consisted of a wide series of hydrological undertakings carried out in Switzerland in the region of the three lakes: Lake Morat connected to Lake Neuchatel by the Broye Canal, the latter connect ...

. Between the Lakes of Neuchâtel and

Biel/Bienne Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; , ) is a town and a municipality in the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Biel/Bienne lies on the language boundary between the French-speaking and German-spea ...

it was converted into a dug-out channel. However, the previous natural bed of La Thielle still exists in some parts. The river flows out of the lake in Biel/Bienne and after 2 km merges directly into the Nidau-Büren channel, which was also dug out during the Jura water correction, ensuring the outflow of the Aare, just before the regulating dam in

Port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as ...

which was commissioned in 1939. Before, La Thielle used to flow into the

7 km further downstream in the vicinity of

Büren an der Aare Büren an der Aare (usually abbreviated with Büren a.A., means ''Büren on the Aare'') is a historic town and a municipality in the Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Büren an der Aare is first men ...

. In the seventeenth century, a grand project was formed to establish a waterway transport system connecting the rivers

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

and

Rhine The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label=Sutsilvan and Surmiran, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian dialect, Al ...

via the

Lake of Geneva , image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg , caption = Satellite image , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Switzerland, France , coords = , lake_type = Glacial lak ...

- the Venoge - and the

Canal d’Entreroches The Canal d’Entreroches (English: ''canal between the cliffs'') was planned in the 17th century as a link between the Rhine and Lake Geneva, and would have enabled inland waterway communication between the North Sea and the Mediterranean. It li ...

- La Thielle -

. It unfortunately remained unfinished. A commercial

waterway A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary ...

of this nature would have had a very significant impact on the European commercial transportation system.

References

Vielle Thielle Canal de la Thielle
Rivers of Switzerland Tributaries of Lake Neuchâtel Bern–Neuchâtel border Rivers of the canton of Bern Rivers of the canton of Vaud Rivers of the canton of Neuchâtel {{Switzerland-river-stub