The Väddö Canal ( sv, Väddö kanal) is an artificial canal first dug in the 16th century to provide a sheltered passage between the to the south and the to the north. The canal separates the island of
Väddö
Väddö is an island in the Baltic Sea in Roslagen district, Sweden. It is situated in Norrtälje Municipality. Together with the adjoined Björkö it is considered the seventh largest island of Sweden.
Väddö is separated from the mainland by ...
from the mainland, and passes through the village of
Älmsta at its northern end, and the lake of Storfjärden towards its middle.
The canal has an official depth of 2.0 metres and is mainly used by leisure boats, with some 20,000 boats passing through every year. There are no
locks, but there are two
opening bridges, the ''Älmstabron'' and the ''Bagghusbron''.
The canal is routed along, or close to, what was originally a natural waterway, but this ceased to be navigable in the
middle ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
. A new channel was dredged several times, the first time to the order of
King Gustav I in the 16th century. By the 18th century, the waterway had again ceased to be navigable, and the current canal was dug by the
Swedish Army
The Swedish Army ( sv, svenska armén) is the land force of the Swedish Armed Forces.
History
Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1521, when the men of Dalarna chose 16 young able men as body guards for the insurgent nobleman Gustav Vas ...
between 1820 and 1840, with traffic using it from 1835 onwards. At the beginning of the 20th century the channel was straightened, widened and deepened.
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References
External links
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Canals in Sweden
Norrtälje Municipality
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