The Soot Canal ( no, Sootkanalen) was 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 flo ...

system located in Eidskog Municipality in

Innlandet Innlandet is a county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (the municipalities of Jevnaker and Lunner were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken on the same date). The ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. Constructed in 1849, it has

's oldest

sluice gates Sluice ( ) is a word for a channel controlled at its head by a movable gate which is called a sluice gate. A sluice gate is traditionally a wood or metal barrier sliding in grooves that are set in the sides of the waterway and can be considered ...

. It was the work of

Engebret Soot Engebret Olsen Soot (26 May 1786 – 3 March 1859) was a Norwegian engineer. He was one of Norway's first canal builders and joined the timber channels at Otteid and Mangen-Grasmo. He is known as the father of the Fredrikshald Canal (now known a ...

(1786-1859). It was built to allow timber to be transported (floated) to the

Halden Halden (), between 1665 and 1928 known as Fredrikshald, is both a town and a municipality in Viken county, Norway. The municipality borders Sarpsborg to the northwest, Rakkestad to the north and Aremark to the east, as well as the Swedish mun ...

sawmills. The canal was long and had 16 locks which extended from Lake Skjervangen at an elevation of above sea level up to Lake Mortsjølungen at above sea level. The Soot Canal was in operation from 1849 to 1932. The channel consisted of the original 16 locks between Skjervangen and Mortskjølungen. The Grasmobanen, a long railroad that hauled the timber between the lakes Mortsjølungen and Tvillingtjern, was also part of the canal system. In 1987, the municipality of

Eidskog Eidskog is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Vinger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Skotterud. Other villages in the municipality include Magnor, Matrand, ...

acquired rights to the countercurrent sluice system and labeled it a landmark attraction.

References

Other sources

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External links

Sootkanalen (Eidskog Museum)
Canals in Norway Geography of Innlandet Water transport in Innlandet Eidskog Canals opened in 1849 1849 establishments in Norway 1932 disestablishments in Norway {{Innlandet-geo-stub