Despite the natural obstacles to canal building in Sweden, the country is equipped with a fine system of waterways which run inland from Göteborg to Stockholm. Many of the canals were of early origin and for their time were remarkable examples of civil engineering
NEW LOCKS AND OLD on the Trollhättan Canal which connects Lake Väner with the Kattegat at Göteborg. The locks on the canal built by Erik Nordvall and opened in 1800 are 21 feet wide at the gates, but in 1916 new locks were built having a width of 45 feet.
THE Kingdom of Sweden, although much of its territory is flat, is not generally suited for canal construction. In spite of the prevailing flatness in the southern and southeastern parts, it does not lay itself open to the canal builder in the same way as do Holland and parts of Belgium. Much of the flat, forest-covered country rests on a foundation of ancient rock, and many seemingly level areas lie on a barely perceptible, but continuous slope. Yet Sweden, for all her uncompromising natural interior, is the home of one of the most famous of inland canal systems. This system, aided by such great inland lakes as Väner and Vätter, provides a ship canal route right through the middle of the country.
The whole system is sometimes known as the Göta Canal, though the route passes through three distinct ship canals, in addition to the intervening lakes. First there is the Trollhättan (Trollhätte) Canal. This consists largely of the canalized Göta River, and extends from Göteborg (Gothenburg) on the west coast, past the Trollhättan Falls, which it avoids by a system of huge locks, to the western extremity of Lake Väner, where it emerges at a point adjacent to the little town of Vänersborg. Next after the Trollhättan Canal, going eastwards, comes the Göta Canal proper, which itself is in two sections, known as Västgota and Ostgöta respectively. The Västgota Canal leaves Lake Väner at a point on its eastern shore near the village of Sjötorp. The Västgota Canal bears roughly south-eastwards from Lake Väner, then turns southwards, finally emerging into Lake Viken, the first of a chain of lakes extending, at diminishing levels, to Lake Vätter. Though the canal ends when it enters the first of these lakes, the stretches between the lakes are extensively canalized to overcome the ancient rapids, and the final descent to Lake Vätter is made through a staircase of locks.
The Ostgöta Canal begins at the important town of Motala, with its great engineering shops and radio station. The canal runs first into Lake Boren. From the eastern extremity of this it by-passes Lake Norrby, and emerges at the western extremity of Lake Roxen. The third section passes from the foot of Lake Roxen to another inland lake called Asplången, whence it finally descends to the level of the Baltic, emerging at the head of a sound or sea loch called Slätbaken. The country traversed along both sections, between Lakes Väner and Vätter, and again between Lake Vätter and the sea, is mainly wild forest land.
The emergence on the shores of the Baltic marks the end of the Göta Canals, West and East, but it is not the end of the main ship canal system which begins with the Trollhättan Canal. From Slätbaken, steamers pass a stretch of open sea, running up the Baltic coast with its rocky islets, past the port of Oxelösund, whence iron is shipped from the rich Grangesberg district.
The third of this great series of ship canals leaves the Baltic by way of another long saltwater sound, between Trosa and Nynäs. The Södertälje Ship Canal cuts through the eastern part of the province of Södermanland, and emerges on Lake Mälar. The city of Stockholm stands at the foot of Lake Mälar, and a final stretch of ship canal connects Lake Mälar with the Baltic at Stockholm (see the chapter “The Bridges of Stockholm”). This final stretch is the Hammarby Canal, which completes the overland series from Göteborg to Stockholm and beyond. Unlike most ship canal systems, that of Sweden is of considerable antiquity, though it has been completely modernized in recent years. The earliest efforts to canalize the River Göta near Trollhättan are of uncertain date. At least as early as 1624 there was a lock at Lilia Edet, below Trollhättan. Various schemes for building a canal between Göteborg and Lake Väner were put forward during the reign of Queen Christina (1632-54), but it was not until as late as 1749 that blasting began on the works at Trollhättan.
The force of the water passing out of Lake Väner was, and still is remarkable, and the eighteenth-century engineer was occasionally inclined to misjudge such things. Part of the programme consisted of damming one of the great falls while the locks were being built. This was a risky proceeding in itself, but worse was to follow. The peasants in the neighbourhood did good business by transporting freight from Lake Väner to the River Göta, round the falls at Trollhättan. They feared that the completion of a canal avoiding the falls would take away their livelihood. While work was in progress on the locks, it was forbidden to float logs down the river, but one night someone, possibly an organized band of disgruntled peasants, let loose nearly 11,000 pine trunks, which were carried away down the river and jammed against the dam.
All night the comparatively frail dam held against the pressure of the water and the weight of the packed timber. On the following morning, September 20, 1755, the dam gave way. Nine workmen were killed, many were injured; some saved themselves by climbing on to the drifting lumber and clinging there until it reached calmer water. Moreover, the whole bold scheme for the canal was wrecked, and the work of years was brought to nothing.
For many years nothing more was done. In 1793, however, the Trollhättan Canal and Lock Company was formed, for the purpose of building a new system of locks and channels between the upper and lower reaches of the River Göta. This concern took over what was left of the old workings. Nearly all the old route, however, was abandoned. The engineers traced the course of their canal parallel to the left bank of the upper Göta as far as the little lake called Åkersjö. Åkersjö is separated from the lower Göta by a hill called Åkersberg, and the level of its waters is 108 feet above the river level on the other side of the hill.
“Staircase” of Five Locks
Erik Nordvall was the engineer responsible for this new layout of the Trollhättan Canal. Between Åkersjö and the lower river he had to make his descent through a short distance, the foot of the lake and the river being only 780 yards apart. He overcame the difficulty by building a magnificent staircase of five deep locks right through the rocky intervening hill, and a further set of three locks between the foot of the Åkersberg and the river. These locks varied from 115 to 118 feet in length, and were 21 feet wide at the gates. The canal itself, between and above the great series of locks, was generally the same width as the locks, and had a depth of 81 feet.
Nordvall’s rebuilt Trollhättan Canal, with its wonderful system of locks, was in its day one of the greatest pieces of civil engineering in the world. It was opened for navigation on August 14, 1800. The troubles of the concern were not, however, over. During succeeding years, especially 1805, considerable damage was caused by falls of rock in the cut through Åkersberg. The old locks on the lower river were inadequate, and the canal company was not in a fit financial position to carry out the necessary improvements. In 1828, however, the company made a new canal section parallel to the river past Lilia Edet, this containing two locks similar in size and design to those of the Trollhättan Canal proper.
By January 15, 1841, the new Trollhättan Canal Company had been formed. Under the new regime the canal was considerably improved, through the able leadership of Nils Ericsson, one of the famous family which produced John Ericsson, who designed the locomotive Novelty in 1829 (see the chapter “Origin of the Locomotive”) and the turret warship Monitor used in the American Civil War. The completed canal was inaugurated on June 5, 1844. In 1904 it was taken over by the Swedish Government and placed under the administration of a department called the Royal Trollhättan Canal and Waterworks, which was to be responsible in addition for the conversion of the natural energy contained in the falls. To-day, three of the largest electric generating stations in Europe are situated near the Trollhättan Canal (see the chapter “Sweden’s Hydro-Electric Schemes”).
A CHAIN OF CANALS running across Sweden links Göteborg with Stockholm. The Trollhättan Canal affords access to Lake Väner, which is connected, through Lake Viken, with Lake Vätter by the Västgota Canal. The series of lakes between.. Motala (on Lake Vätter) and the arm of the Baltic known as Slätbaken is linked up by the Ostgöta Canal. Ships for Stockholm then follow the coast northwards to the entrance of the Södertälje Canal, which affords access to the southern end of Lake Mälar. The short Hammarby Canal, within the confines of Stockholm, also links Lake Mälar with the Baltic Sea.
The Trollhättan Canal to-day is not, however, as Ericsson left it. During the early years of the present century, the Royal Trollhättan Canal and Waterworks began an elaborate system of building, which was completed in 1916. This involved the provision of three imposing new locks on the Åkersdal section. These, in the same way as Nordvall’s original series, run in succession. They are each 321½ feet long, 45 feet wide and 50 feet deep.
The Göta Canal, through the heart of Central Sweden, also has somewhat ancient origins. In 1525, one of the old Swedish bishops presented a sort of memorandum to King Gustav I, suggesting the building of an artificial waterway through part of the country’s interior. This bishop, whose name was Brask, had no thought of inland navigation, but intended merely to provide a waterway down which timber could be floated to the sea with the aid of natural currents. Bishop Brask appears to have had a contractor on the job, for remains of the earliest attempt survive even now, and one deep cut near Norsholm, in the province of Östergötland, is known as Brask’s Grave.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century interest revived. Emanuel Swedenborg, the scientist and mystic, unearthed the original letter written by Bishop Brask and showed it to Charles XII. Christopher Polhem, an experienced engineer, having heard of this, induced the king to let him build a waterway across Sweden to a point near Norrköping, making use of natural streams as far as possible. Part of the scheme materialized in the early works on the Trollhättan Canal. Polhem drew up plans for a canal 36 feet wide with locks 180 feet long to connect Lakes Väner and Vätter and Lake Vätter with the Baltic.
It was not, however, until the Trollhättan Canal, in its original form, was already opened that interest was revived in the much longer Göta Canal, with its two distinct sections. Baron von Platen, one of the directors of the Trollhättan Company, published a pamphlet urging the revival of the Göta Canal scheme. There were no railways then, and a continuation from Lake Väner to the Baltic coast would cause a great increase of traffic through Trollhättan. Von Platen was instructed to have the route surveyed. He called into consultation one of the greatest civil engineers of the nineteenth century, for in August 1808 Thomas Telford arrived in Sweden from Great Britain.
Telford made his first headquarters at Sätra, on Lake Viken. His survey of the future Göta Canal was carried out with an expedition suited to the greatness of his name. He completed the entire survey within twenty days, and the route plotted out by him is the one which the canal follows to-day.
The digging of the canal began in 1810, work being begun simultaneously at several points in Västergötland and Östergötland, the provinces bounding Lake Vätter. Excavation was not easy, and the nature of the soil varied considerably.
Telford’s Ambitious Planning
On the first section inwards from Lake Väner in Västergötland, the ground consisted largely of hard rock, and considerable blasting was necessary. Farther on, the line of the canal had to pass through low-lying boggy country, necessitating the provision of a stout bottom at a minimum depth of 8 feet, with embankments on either side reaching a maximum height of 20 feet above the surface of the surrounding country.
Locks were numerous, though the Ostgöta section was to contain the greatest succession of locks. Where the canal skirted the bogs, Telford drained them to a great extent by cutting a channel through a ridge of rock to carry the swamp water off into the Lyrestad River. At either end, where the canal left Lake Väner and where it entered Lake Vätter, the Västgota section was carried up and down a succession of locks arranged in the manner of a staircase. The summit level of the canal is about 300 feet above Ordnance datum. Telford and his colleagues had heavy work on the Ostgöta section running eastwards from Lake Vätter. Near Motala, on the eastern shores of the lake, they had to carry the canal down to the level of Lake Boren through a succession of locks. Between these locks, at Motala, the channel passed through a light and porous soil, and considerable work had to be carried out on lining the canal before it was made watertight. Eastwards from Lake Boren, the nature of the ground varied considerably. It resembled the country in parts of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands, being often alternately boggy and rocky. In some places the ground was so patchy in its quality that the course of the canal was carried through a series of bends to make the most of what good soil there was.
CANAL STEAMER passing through a lock in the Trollhättan Canal. The Astrea, 263 tons gross, has a length of 97 ft. 7 in., a beam of 21 ft. 11 in. and a depth of 9 ft. 6 in.
In its descent to Lake Roxen from the west the canal had to be carried through the greatest series of locks on the whole system. Within a distance of 3,284 yards Telford had to carry it down through no fewer than fifteen locks. Eight of these were in pairs, and the last five came down to the shores of Roxen in a continuous staircase. In one place on this section of the canal the surrounding soil was so bad that the only way to retain the water in the channel was to excavate it 4 feet deeper and 10 feet wider, the extra space being filled in with puddled clay. Between two of the locks on this section the canal was fated to remain leaky not merely for years, but for several generations.
The eastern end of the Ostgöta section also presented considerable difficulties. The ground was low-lying and swampy, and continuous trouble was experienced through the subsidence of the earthen embankments on either side. The general policy of the engineers was to build first those sections which could assist, by the traffic carried over them, in the building of the remaining channels. By 1821 it was possible for barges of light draught to be navigated over certain sections of the Västgota channel, and on September 3,1822, the whole of the Västgota section was opened for traffic.
The eastern section was opened by stages. The first, from Motala to Roxen, with its numerous locks, was completed in 1825, and the succeeding stretch followed in 1827. The whole of the Göta Canal, however, was not finished until the end of 1832. Baron von Platen did not live to see the completion of his life work, for he died, in Norway, on December 6, 1829, at the age of 63. Von Platen was not an engineer. The credit for the engineering of the Göta Canal belongs to Telford. But von Platen was at least an apostle of engineering and without his courage and persistence it is doubtful whether Sweden to-day would have one of the most remarkable ship canal systems in the world.
The Södertälje Canal, which connects the Baltic with Lake Mälar at its southern extremity, passes through a relatively high sandhill formation. In the middle of this the main railway line from Göteborg to Stockholm crosses it on a fine rolling bascule bridge.
A canal across this part of Södermanland was begun in the fifteenth century. In 1780 an abortive attempt was made to complete the canal. Another attempt, begun in 1807, was successful, the canal being completed on September 7, 1819. It was originally 11½ feet deep and about 60 feet wide at the top. When it was in its old form, it was impossible for two steamers to pass each other in the ordinary sections, and there was installed for the guidance of navigation a system of semaphore signalling similar to that on a railway.
Ocean-Going Traffic
An elaborate rebuilding programme was completed in 1924. In its present form the channel is capable of accommodating vessels drawing 20 feet of water. Because of a slight difference in level between Lake Mälar and the Baltic, the Södertälje Ship Canal contains one big lock. This has a length of 450 feet and a breadth of 67 feet, the depth being 27 feet.
The final link in this impressive series of ship canals is the Hammarby Canal, within the boundaries of Stockholm itself. It enables vessels to pass from Lake Mälar to the Baltic, thus giving an increased scope to the numerous quays on the landward side of the
city. The canal, completed in 1926, contains one big lock, 358 feet long, 57 feet wide, and about 20 feet deep.
The Trollhättan and Göta Canals have had a somewhat chequered history, which was perhaps scarcely deserved in view of the resourceful engineering which they have entailed. During the last century, the Göta Canal at first suffered from the incapacity of the locks on the older Trollhättan Canal, which limited the tonnage of shipping entering from the western end. From the end of the eighteen-fifties, too, traffic on the canals suffered from the growth of railway transport, the completion of the Göteborg —Stockholm line being a logical outcome of the earliest State Railway enterprises in the province of Västergötland.
None of these things, however, can take away the interest that the Trollhättan and Göta Canals have as works of engineering. To-day, the inland voyage through Sweden from Göteborg to Stockholm is a favourite with tourists; who have quite justifiably no objection to spending three days and two nights on the little white canal steamer instead of a single night in the excellent but admittedly prosaic Government-owned electric train. The Södertälje and Hammarby Canals, in their turn, carry considerable ocean-going traffic in the shape of vessels plying between the Baltic and the inner parts of Sweden's capital city.
A SINGLE-BASCULE BRIDGE carries an electric main-line railway across the Södertälje Canal, near Stockholm. The canal links the southern end of Lake Mälar with the Baltic Sea. Rebuilt in 1924, the canal accommodates vessels drawing 20 feet of water.
