The Trollhätte Canal ( sv, Trollhätte kanal) is a canal in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. Trollhätte Canal connects the

Göta river Göta is a Swedish given name, which is the female equivalent of Göte. It may refer to: *Göta Ljungberg (1893–1955), Swedish singer *Göta Pettersson (1926–1993), Swedish gymnast Other uses *Göta, Sweden *Göta älv, a river in Sweden *G ...

with the lake

Vänern Vänern ( , also , ) is the largest lake in Sweden, the largest lake in the European Union and the third-largest lake of all Europe after Ladoga and Onega in Russia. It is located in the provinces of Västergötland, Dalsland, and Värmland in ...

. The canal was opened in 1800. In 2004, the canal was proclaimed a national monument. The Trollhätte Canal and the

Göta Canal The Göta Canal ( sv, Göta kanal) is a Swedish canal constructed in the early 19th century. The canal is long, of which were dug or blasted, with a width varying between and a maximum depth of about .Uno Svedin, Britt Hägerhäll Anianss ...

form a greater 390 km long waterway connecting the

Kattegatt The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden i ...

area of the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

and 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 ...

through the territory of Sweden. This waterway was dubbed as Sweden's Blue Ribbon ( sv, Sveriges Blå Band). Contrary to the popular belief, it is not correct to consider this waterway as a part of the ''greater'' Göta Canal. The Trollhätte Canal and the Göta Canal are completely separate entities.

Description

The Trollhätte Canal is 82 km long, albeit only 10 km of it is manmade, the rest of its watercourse it was laid out through the riverbed of the

Göta Älv Göta is a Swedish given name, which is the female equivalent of Göte. It may refer to: *Göta Ljungberg (1893–1955), Swedish singer *Göta Pettersson (1926–1993), Swedish gymnast Other uses *Göta, Sweden *Göta älv, a river in Sweden *G ...

river. The highest point of the Trollhätte Canal is at the Lake Vänern – 44.10 m a.s.l. The canal has six locks (downstream towards

Göteborg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a p ...

): : 1. Brinkebergskulle sluss (6 m) – Vänersborg : 2. Tvåan (9 m) – Trollhättan upper : 3-5. Slusstrappan (23 m) – Trollhättan lower, triple

lock staircase 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 ...

: 6. Ströms sluss (6 m) –

Lilla Edet Lilla Edet is a locality and the seat of Lilla Edet Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 4,862 inhabitants in 2010. Lilla Edet was the smallest of three settlements that were burnt down in Sweden on 25 June 1888. The wooden tow ...

, 49 km from Göteborg

Cargo traffic

The canal is open for

cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...

traffic nearly all year round except short periods in winter when its locks are subject to maintenance or affected by ice. The canal allows ships up to 4000

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

s to pass through. However the statistics show that from the beginning of the 21st century the cargo traffic through the canal is in steady decline: in 2015 the volume of freight transferred through the canal amounted to 1.5 million tonnes while in 1990 it was as large as 3.5 million tonnes. A relevant study suggests this decline is due to a number of factors. One of them is competition from road and rail transportation, but another is due to the constraints of the current infrastructure of the canal. The current locks of the canal were built in 1916. They are not large enough for modern day freighters, thus they do not have sufficient throughput capacity. Another factor is the age of the locks per se. They were built using technology and materials more than a hundred years ago. Despite regular maintenance they struggle to sustain the effects of water and ice. It is estimated that the locks could not be safely used after 2030. In this regard the Swedish transport authorities are planning in 2025-2026 to proceed with the renovation of the canal infrastructure which is to be finished in 2030-2032.

Watercraft measurements

Ships classified as ''Vänermax'' are of the maximal measurements that will fit through the canal as follows: *

Length Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Interna ...

: 88 m *

Beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

: 13.40 m * Draft: 5.40 m * Vertical clearance: 27 m

References

{{Reflist Canals in Sweden