The Telemark Canal connects the towns

Skien Skien () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. In modern times it is regarded as part of the traditional region of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsj ...

and

Dalen Dalen (Dutch Low Saxon: ''Daoln'') is a village and a former municipality in the northeastern Netherlands, in the province of Drenthe. Since 1998, Dalen has been part of the municipality of Coevorden. The village was first mentioned in the 12th ...

in southern

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 t ...

by linking several long lakes in the

Skien watershed The Skien watershed is the third largest watershed of Norway after those of the Glomma and the Drammen rivers. The catchment area is , and the maximum length is . The Skien watershed includes rivers which feed Lake Norsjø above Skien; * Vinje ...

through a series of 18

locks 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 ...

. It originally consisted of two canals. The

Norsjø Norsjø is a lake in the municipalities of Skien, Nome and Sauherad in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. It is 55 km² in area and 15 meters above sea level. Norsjø is part of the Telemark Canal. Most rivers in Telemark meet Norsjø on ...

–Skien Canal, with locks in Skien and Løveid, was built in 1854–1861 and linked Skien with Norsjø lake. The longer

Bandak Bandak is a lake in the municipalities of Kviteseid and Tokke in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The lake, which is part of the Telemark Canal route, belongs to the Skien watershed. The river Tokke flows into the lake, and the outlet i ...

–Norsjø Canal was opened in 1892 by the

Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

Hans Hein Theodor Nysom Hans Hein Theodor Nysom (5 September 1845 – 28 August 1903) was a Norwegian politician with the Liberal Party, a cabinet minister and member of Norwegian Parliament. Nysom was born at Botne in Vestfold, Norway. He was a grandchild of pries ...

. It extended the canal from Norsjø lake through

Flåvatn Flåvatn is a lake in the municipalities of Nome and Kviteseid in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The lake is the easternmost of the connected lakes Bandak, Kviteseidvatnet and Flåvatn, which are all part of the Telemark Canal. The lake's ...

and

Kviteseidvatn Kviteseidvatn (or ''Kviteseidvatnet''The suffix "''-et''" is a form of the Norwegian language definite article and means "the". Hence ''Kviteseidvatnet'' is equivalent to "the Kviteseidvatn." Both forms can be found in English language text.) is a ...

(Kviteseidvatnet) lakes to Bandak lake. In Europe, this canal was seen as "the eighth wonder" at the time it was finished. The Bandak–Nordsjø Canal was mainly built for transport of goods and passengers,

log floating Log driving is a means of moving logs (sawn tree trunks) from a forest to sawmills and pulp mills downstream using the current of a river. It was the main transportation method of the early logging industry in Europe and North America. Histo ...

and to prevent flooding. Log floating is no longer practiced, due to the closing of

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

, a local paper factory. An eastern section gives access from Norsjø lake to

Notodden Notodden () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold og Telemark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Øst-Telemark. ...

via Lake Heddalsvatnet. The Telemark Canal consists of 18 locks, is long and has a total difference in elevation of . The biggest staircase lock is Vrangfoss, which has five chambers and a lifting height of . The

riverboats A riverboat is a watercraft designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury un ...

''Henrik Ibsen'' and ''Victoria'' travel with tourists from Skien to Dalen via

Kviteseid Kviteseid is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Telemark in the Counties of Norway, county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Upper Telemark and Vest-Telemark. The administrative ...

. ''Victoria'' has traveled the Norsjø–Skien Canal since 1882, and the Bandak–Norsjø Canal since its opening. The canal was selected as the

millennium site A millennium site ( no, tusenårssted) is a site selected by a Norwegian municipality or county municipality to mark the transition to the 2000s. In Norway it was decided that the counties and municipalities would choose one millennium site for ...

for Telemark county. It was also features in the ''Telemarkskanalen – minutt for minutt''

slow television Slow television, or slow TV ( no, sakte-TV), is a term used for a genre of "marathon" television coverage of an ordinary event in its complete length. Its name is derived both from the long endurance of the broadcast as well as from the natural sl ...

documentary in 2012.Telemarkskanalen – minutt for minutt IMDB
/ref> The Bandak-Norsjø Canal was made a National Cultural Heritage in June, 2017.

List of lock chambers

There are 18 lock chambers at 8 different locations.

Maximum traffic dimensions

References

External links

The Telemark Canal
* {{coord, 59, 17, N, 9, 16, E, display=title, region:NO_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki Geography of Vestfold og Telemark Tourist attractions in Vestfold og Telemark Canals in Norway Locks in Norway Water transport in Vestfold og Telemark Nome, Norway Kviteseid Canals opened in 1861 Canals opened in 1892 Timber rafting 1861 establishments in Norway Millennium sites