Baťa Canal (in

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

''Baťův kanál'' or ''Průplav Otrokovice-Rohatec'') is a navigable

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

on the Morava river in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. The water canal was built during 1934-38 and today it serves mainly for recreational cruises.

History

Reasons for building the canal were two: an attempt to increase the level of

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated ...

after the Morava river was

regulated Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...

and as an initial phase of long planned but never realized Danube-Oder-Canal. The immediate reason for the construction was the need to transfer lignite from mine in

Ratíškovice Ratíškovice is a municipality and village in Hodonín District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 4,000 inhabitants. Geography Ratíškovice is located about northeast of Hodonín and southeast of Hodonín. It lie ...

to the

Otrokovice Otrokovice (; german: Otrokowitz) is a town in Zlín District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 17,000 inhabitants. It is known as an industrial centre. Administrative parts The town part of Kvítkovice is an administrative ...

power plant. Both were owned by Bata Shoes (''Baťovy závody'') and the company was the main investor (the rest was paid for by the state). Construction started on October 16, 1934 and finished during autumn 1938. The canal was financed by Jan Antonín Baťa in cooperation with the Czechoslovak state.

Technical details

The route is 51.8 km long, of which 27 km fall to the Morava river, 1 km to the

Dřevnice The Dřevnice (german: Drewnitz) is a river in the Czech Republic. It is a left tributary of the Morava River. It originates in the Vizovice Highlands ''(Vizovická vrchovina)'' upland at the elevation of 560 m and flows to Otrokovice, where it ...

river and 24 km is artificial canal. The difference in water levels is 18.6 m. In total 33 bridges spanned over the canal. The canal had 14 canal locks. Some parts of the technical infrastructure were quite unique at the time of construction.

Canal today

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the canal was severely damaged and only partially repaired (repairs lasted until 1949). Its use for transportation declined and in 1972 it was officially abandoned. In 1995 the route was reopened for sightseeing tours. After repairs 13 canal locks are now accessible. The canal became the most popular tourist destination of the region. It is also used for transportation of industrial goods and plans exist to extend it downstream to the border of

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

Literature

* ''Baťův kanál – od myšlenky k nápadu'', collection of authors, Povodí Moravy, 2018, .

External links

Canal website
(cz, en)

(cz)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bata Canal Canals in the Czech Republic Zlín District Uherské Hradiště District Hodonín District Buildings and structures in the South Moravian Region Buildings and structures in the Zlín Region Canals opened in 1938