, image = Селішча._Дняпроўска-Бугскі_канал._Водападзел_(15).jpg , image_caption = , original_owner = , engineer = , other_engineer = , date_act = , date_began = 1775 , date_use = , date_completed = 1784 , date_extended = , date_closed = , date_restored = , length_km = 105 , start_point =

Bug River uk, Західний Буг be, Захо́дні Буг , name_etymology = , image = Wyszkow_Bug.jpg , image_size = 250 , image_caption = Bug River in the vicinity of Wyszków, Poland , map = Vi ...

near

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

, end_point =

Pripyat River The Pripyat or Prypiat ( , uk, Прип'ять, ; be, Прыпяць, translit=Prypiać}, ; pl, Prypeć, ; russian: Припять, ) is a river in Eastern Europe, approximately long. It flows east through Ukraine, Belarus, and Ukraine ag ...

near

Sapotskin Sapotskin ( be, Сапоцкін, lt, Sapackinė, russian: Сопоцкин, pl, Sopoćkinie, yi, סאַפּעטקין, Sapetkin) is a small town in Belarus, north-west of Hrodna with circa 2,000 inhabitants. Sapotskin became one of the cent ...

, connects_to = , locks = 20 , original_num_locks = , lock_note = , elev = , elev_note = , status = Open , navigation_authority = UkraineNWpripjat

The Dnieper–Bug Canal (alternatively the Dnepr-Bug Canal), or the Dneprovsko-Bugsky Canal is the longest inland

ship canal A ship canal is a canal especially intended to accommodate ships used on the oceans, seas, or lakes to which it is connected. Definition Ship canals can be distinguished from barge canals, which are intended to carry barges and other vessel ...

. It connects the

Mukhavets River __NOTOC__ The Mukhavets or Mukhovets ( be, Мухаве́ц (''Muchaviec''), , BGN/PCGN romanization: ''Mukhavyets''; russian: Мухове́ц (''Muchovec''), pl, Muchawiec) is a river in western Belarus, a tributary to the Bug. The river ris ...

(a tributary of the

) and the

Pina River The Pina ( be, Піна, russian: Пи́на) is a river in Ivanava and Pinsk Raions in Belarus. The length of the river is 40 kilometers. The river flows into the city of Pinsk and is a left tributary of the Pripyat. The average gradient of Pina i ...

(a tributary of the

). Originally the canal was named the Royal Canal ( pl, Kanał Królewski), after the

King of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16t ...

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1764 to 1795, and the last monarch ...

(), who initiated its construction. It forms an important part of the transportation artery linking the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

and the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

. The total length of the canal system from

Pinsk Pinsk ( be, Пі́нск; russian: Пи́нск ; Polish: Pińsk; ) is a city located in the Brest Region of Belarus, in the Polesia region, at the confluence of the Pina River and the Pripyat River. The region was known as the Marsh of Pinsk a ...

is , including the artificial waterway long. The canal system comprises: * the western slope from

Kobrin Kobryn ( be, Кобрын; russian: Кобрин; pl, Kobryń; lt, Kobrynas; uk, Кобринь, Kobryn'; yi, קאָברין) is a city in the Brest Region of Belarus and the center of the Kobryn District. The city is located in the southwest ...

* a stretch of the

Mukhavets __NOTOC__ The Mukhavets or Mukhovets ( be, Мухаве́ц (''Muchaviec''), , BGN/PCGN romanization: ''Mukhavyets''; russian: Мухове́ц (''Muchovec''), pl, Muchawiec) is a river in western Belarus, a tributary to the Bug. The river rise ...

River with regulated water-level * a summit pound * the eastern slope, stretch of the canal * a stretch of the

with regulated water-level The

drainage area A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the ...

of the canal system totals .

History

Origins

Canal building flourished in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

in the late 18th century. Yet many of the early canals are no longer in active service, having been superseded by railroads and highways. The Dnieper–Bug Canal after several enlargements still provides a convenient inland waterway. Until the 18th century there was a

portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

between

and

as it was a part of the important long-distance

trade route A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over bodies of water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a sing ...

from the

to the

. The names of the Voloka River and the village of Mukhovloki near

reflect the existence of the ancient portage. People have settled along the

route since ancient times due to the importance of the (

Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks The trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks was a medieval trade route that connected Scandinavia, Kievan Rus' and the Eastern Roman Empire. The route allowed merchants along its length to establish a direct prosperous trade with the Empir ...

Proposal and design

In the mid-17th century,

Jerzy Ossoliński Prince Jerzy Ossoliński h. Topór (15 December 1595 – 9 August 1650) was a Polish nobleman (''szlachcic''), Crown Court Treasurer from 1632, governor (''voivode'') of Sandomierz from 1636, ''Reichsfürst'' (Imperial Prince) since 1634, Crown ...

, Crown Court Treasurer of the

was the first to suggest the idea of upgrading the

to a

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 flow un ...

with locks. The work started 120 years later. In 1770, the canal was planned by the prominent cartographer

Franciszek Florian Czaki Franciszek Florian Czaki (Csaky de Kerestszegh) (died in 1772) – a famous cartographer, engineer, captain of the Polish artillery, Hungarian by nationality. One of the most prominent cartographers of the last Polish king Stanisław August Pon ...

Construction and operation

The canal was built in 1775-1784 during the reign of

, the last king of the

. Originally it was named Kanał Królewski ( en, Royal Canal), after the Polish king, since he was the initiator of the project. Additional work was carried out starting in 1837 by the Russian Empire and completed around 1846–1848. To supply the canal system with water, mainly the

canal pound A canal pound (from impound), reach, or level (American usage), is the stretch of level water impounded between two canal locks. Canal pounds can vary in length from the non-existent, where two or more immediately adjacent locks form a lock stair ...

, Beloozerski and Orekhovski

watercourse A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams are ...

s were started in 1839 and completed in 1843. The number of movable

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

s between

and

reached 22. As a result, the canal became navigable for bigger vessels, in particular steamers, at any time from spring till autumn. In 1847, the Kanał Królewski was renamed the ''Dneprovo-Bugski Canal''.

Decline and abandonment

After the construction of the railway along the canal in the late 19th century the canal was used mostly for

rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

, exported to western countries. During World War I, the canal was not in use.

Reconstruction

During the 1920s, it was partly rebuilt anew for the Riverine Flotilla of the Polish Navy ( pl, Flotylla Rzeczna Marynarki Wojennej), better known as the ''Pinsk Flotilla''. The Flotilla was the inland branch of the Polish Navy operating in the area of the

Pinsk Marshes __NOTOC__ The Pinsk Marshes ( be, Пінскія балоты, ''Pinskiya baloty''), also known as the Pripet Marshes ( be, Прыпяцкія балоты, ''Prypiackija baloty''), the Polesie Marshes, and the Rokitno Marshes, are a vast natural ...

between the Polish-Bolshevik War and

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 opposin ...

. During the 1920s, two locks were built. In 1940, the Soviet authorities initiated a large-scale reconstruction of the canal. A long stretch of the canal was built near

to straighten the old canal. Eight locks were built replacing movable

s. Navigation on the Dnieper–Bug Canal is interrupted by

s on the rivers

and Bug near

Brest, Belarus Brest ( be, Брэст / Берасьце, Bieraście, ; russian: Брест, ; uk, Берестя, Berestia; lt, Brasta; pl, Brześć; yi, בריסק, Brisk), formerly Brest-Litovsk (russian: Брест-Литовск, lit=Lithuanian Br ...

, the border town. That is the only place that, for the time being, makes the navigation from Western Europe to

and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

through inland waterways impossible. The waterways from the German-Polish border (

Oder River The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows thr ...

, through the

Warta The river Warta ( , ; german: Warthe ; la, Varta) rises in central Poland and meanders greatly north-west to flow into the Oder, against the German border. About long, it is Poland's second-longest river within its borders after the Vistula, a ...

, Brda and

Noteć Noteć (; , ) is a river in central Poland with a length of (7th longest) and a basin area of .Bydgoszcz Canal Bydgoszcz Canal (german: Bromberger Kanal) is a canal, 24.7 km long, between the cities of Bydgoszcz and Nakło in Poland, connecting Vistula river with Oder river, through Brda and Noteć rivers (the latter ending in the Warta river whic ...

Vistula River The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

Narew River The Narew (; be, Нараў, translit=Naraŭ; or ; Sudovian language, Sudovian: ''Naura''; Old German: ''Nare''; uk, Нарва, translit=Narva) is a 499-kilometre (310 mi) river primarily in north-eastern Poland, which is also a tributar ...

) once used to link the Belarus and Ukrainian inland waterways via

, Dnieper–Bug Canal,

and

Dnieper River } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...

), thus connecting north-western Europe with the Black Sea.

Decline and renewal

Recently the dam in the Bug, making it impossible for ships to pass, has led to considerable neglect of the most western part of the Mukhavets; some of the locks have been filled in and Brest Harbor can only be reached by vessels approaching from the east. More recently efforts have been undertaken to restore the canal to a class IV inland waterway of international importance. In 2003 the Government of the Republic of Belarus adopted an inland water transport and sea transport development program to rebuild the Dnieper–Bug Canal shipping locks to meet the standards of a class Va European waterway. According to the Belarus government,Report regarding rebuilding CanalArchived version
/ref> four sluice dams and one shipping lock have been rebuilt which allow for the passage of vessels long, wide with a draught of . It is expected that reconstruction will continue over the next few years.

Footnotes

External links

2008 report on the canal

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dnieper-Bug Canal Transport in Belarus Canals in Belarus Canals opened in 1784