The Northern Dvina Canal (russian: Северодвинский канал) is a 64 km long
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 ...
in
Vologda Oblast
Vologda Oblast ( rus, Вологодская область, p=vəlɐˈɡotskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ, r=Vologodskaya oblast, ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is Vologda. The Oblast has a population of 1,202,444 ...
in Russia. It connects the
Volga-Baltic Waterway to the
Northern Dvina River through its tributary, the
Sukhona River. The Northern Dvina Canal is one of the two canals (the other one being the abandoned
Northern Ekaterininsky Canal) connecting the river basins of the Volga and the Northern Dvina.
At its western end the Northern Dvina Canal starts at the
Sheksna River (a part of the Volga-Baltic Waterway), 10 km south of the town of
Kirillov. The canal runs north towards
Lake Siverskoye
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a Depression (geology), basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the World Ocean, oce ...
and the town of Kirillov. From Kirillov, the canal turns northeast through a series of small lakes, including Lake Pokrovskoye, Lake Zaulomskoye, and Lake Kishemskoye. To the east of Lake Kishemskoye, the canal joins the valley of the
Itkla and follows it until it joins the
Porozovitsa River. At this point, the canal gradually turns southeast and ends up in the northwestern end of
Lake Kubenskoye
Lake Kubenskoye (russian: Кубенское озеро) is a large and shallow lake in Vologda Oblast of Russia, situated at the height of 110.1 metres above mean sea level, stretching for 54 km from north-west to south-east.
The lake area i ...
. The lake is the source of the Sukhona River.
There are six
locks on the canal, all made of wood. One of the locks is located in the southern part of the town of Kirillov.
The canal is still in operation and supports occasional cruise and cargo traffic.
History
Until 1703, the Northern Dvina was the main waterway connecting Russia and Europe, and
Arkhangelsk was the main Russian harbor used for foreign trade. In 1703,
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
was founded, and
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
issued a number of decrees limiting capacities of Arkhangelsk as a sea port and intended to reroute foreign trade to 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 ...
. Arkhangelsk was fully restored as a sea port in 1762, and thus water connections between the Northern Dvina basin and central Russia were badly needed. In 1798 research started on the best route for a canal connecting the Sheksna and Lake Kubenskoye.
In the beginning of the 19th century, the North Ekaterininsky Canal was considered to be more important, and the project was shelved. However, the North Ekaterininsky Canal proved inefficient for a number of reasons and was finally closed in 1838. On the other side, the
Napoleonic wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
blocked the access of Russia to Europe via the Baltic Sea, and for some time Arkhangelsk again became the most important foreign trade harbor, with shipbuilding as an important local industry. In 1823 a route for the canal was surveyed for the second time, and construction started in 1824.
The canal opened in 1828 under the name Alexander of Württemberg Canal, after the Russian minister of transportation in 1822-1833,
Duke Alexander Friedrich of Württemberg.
Александр, герцог виртембергский
Subsequently, maintenance works were performed. In 1834 a dam was constructed on the Sukhona to stabilize the level of Lake Kubenskoye. In 1884 the reconstruction of the canal (four of the locks were demolished) increased the maximum size of the ships which could use the canal. Finally, one more reconstruction was performed between 1916 and 1921. After the reconstruction the name of the canal was changed to avoid any mention of the royal family.
References
{{Reflist
Canals in Russia
Buildings and structures in Vologda Oblast
Canals opened in 1828
Transport in Vologda Oblast