The Södertälje Canal ( sv, Södertälje kanal) is 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 ...

connecting the lake

Mälaren Mälaren ( , , or ), historically referred to as Lake Malar in English, is the third-largest freshwater lake in Sweden (after Vänern and Vättern). Its area is 1,140 km2 and its greatest depth is 64 m. Mälaren spans 120 kilometers from e ...

with 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 ...

, at the city of

Södertälje Södertälje ( , ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Södermanland and Stockholm County, Sweden and seat of Södertälje Municipality. As of 2017, it has 72,704 inhabitants. Södertälje is located at Mälarens confluence in to the Baltic Sea ...

. It is 5.2 km long, and it has one

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

. The size of this lock is the largest in Scandinavia by allowed ship size. The lock is 135 m long and 17 m wide. The water level difference between Mälaren and the Baltic Sea is not large, on average 0.6 m (2 ft). This is the main shipping route into the lake Mälaren.

History

In the Viking age the passage was navigable by boats, but the

Post-glacial rebound Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound a ...

made it unusable. In the year 1819 a lock was finished, so boats could use the canal. In 1924 a much larger lock (that remains in use today) was built and the canal was widened and deepened.

Recent events on the main bridge over the approach to the canal

On the approach from the Baltic Sea to the canal itself there is the Bridge of Södertälje, actually 4 bridges (2 for the Motorway E4/E20, 1 for the local traffic and 1 for the trains). * On 13 February 2016 all 4 members of the British band

Viola Beach Viola Beach were an English indie rock group, formed in Warrington, Cheshire, in 2013. The band's final line-up consisted of Kris Leonard (guitar and vocals), River Reeves (guitar), Tomas Lowe (bass guitar), and Jack Dakin (drums). All four, ...

, along with their manager, were killed when their van struck the middle section of the bridge as it was being raised for a large ship passing through the canal. * On 24 June 2016 an accident involving two trucks damaged the bridge so much that it had to be closed in one direction for a long time, creating traffic problems because it is the only connection directly southwards from

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

apart from 2 smaller bridges in the city of

itself.

History

Recent events on the main bridge over the approach to the canal

See also