Göta Canal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Göta Canal is a Swedish canal constructed in the early 19th century. The canal stretches all the way from Gothenburg on the Swedish west coast, combined with the river Göta älv and the Trollhätte canal, through the great lakes Vänern and Vättern, in parallel with Motala ström, and to Söderköping on the Baltic Sea.
The architect was Baltzar von Platen, working to plans earlier developed at the request of the Swedish king by the British civil engineer Thomas Telford; he got permission to begin to work on April 11, 1810 and the canal was officially opened on September 26, 1832. Telford himself travelled to Sweden in 1810 to oversee some of the initial excavations on the project. Built only decades before the advent of railroads (see Rail Transport), the canal was soon outdated, and never upgraded. The canal is a tourist attraction, sometimes called the blue ribbon of Sweden.
To support the building of the canal with mechanical works, a small engineering workshop was established in Motala called Motala Verkstad. This industry has sometimes been referred to as cradle of the Swedish engineering industry.
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[edit] In fiction
Several movies depict the canal, most notably the 1981 comedy Göta Kanal, in which two competing yacht constructors race the canal in order to win a huge construction stock order. In 2006, the Göta Kanal 2 movie hit the cinemas.
[edit] Locks
From the east-coast of Sweden all the way to the west-coast the locks are as follows: (with meters per locks)
- Mem, 3
- Tegelbruket, 2.3
- Söderköping, 2.4
- Duvkullen nedre, 2.3
- Duvkullen övre, 2.4
- Mariehov nedre, 2.1
- Mariehov övre, 2.6
- Carlsborg nedre, 5.1
- Carlsborg övre, 4.7
- Klämman, open
- Hulta, 3.2
- Bråttom, 2.3
- Norsholm, 0.8
- Carl Johans slussar (seven locks), 18.8
- Oskars slussar, 4.8
- Karl Ludvig Eugéns slussar, 5.5
- Brunnby, 5.3
- Heda, 5.2
- Borensberg, 0.2
- Borenshult, 15.3
- Motala, 0.1
Lake Vättern
- Forsvik, 3.5
- Tåtorp, 0.2
- Hajstorp övre, 5.0
- Hajstorp nedre, 5.1
- Riksberg, 7.5
- Godhögen, 5.1
- Norrkvarn övre, 2.9
- Norrkvarn nedre, 2.9
- Sjötorp 7-8, 4.6
- Sjötorp 6, 2.4
- Sjötorp 4-5, 4.8
- Sjötorp 2-3, 4.8
- Sjötorp 1, 2.9
[edit] Photographs of the Göta Canal
[edit] See also
[edit] Bibliography
- Eric de Maré, Swedish Cross Cut, Sweden, 1965. (In English)
[edit] External links
- Göta Canal - Official site
