The Kłodnicki Canal ( pl, Kanał Kłodnicki) 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 flo ...

along the

Kłodnica Kłodnica () is a river in the Upper Silesia region. It is about 75 km long and a right tributary of the Odra river. Along Kłodnica's shore are Polish cities of Katowice, Kędzierzyn-Koźle, Ruda Śląska, Gliwice, and Zabrze. There ...

River in

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

between the Oder River and

Gliwice Gliwice (; german: Gleiwitz) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional capi ...

. Constructed when the territory was part of

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

, it was originally known as the Klodnitz Canal (german: Klodnitzkanal). Because the Kłodnica (''Klodnitz'') was not navigable, a canal was needed to provide transportation for the flourishing

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

and ore mining, as well as the metallurgy industry in the

region. Designed by

John Baildon John Baildon (11 December 1772 – 7 August 1846) was a Scotland, Scottish pioneer in metallurgy in continental Europe. Baildon was born in Larbert, Stirlingshire. In 1793, he came to Kingdom of Prussia, Prussian Province of Silesia, Silesia (i ...

, an engineer from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and Friedrich Wilhelm von Reden, Director of the High Mining Office in Breslau (Wrocław), the canal was built between 1792 and 1812. It had a length of about and an altitude difference of about . It incorporated two hybrid inclined track/ canal locks.Early canal inclined planes in Silesia
''www.mikeclarke.myzen.co.uk'', accessed 21 August 2022 The depth of the canal and the design of the

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 ...

allowed the use of vessels of up to 50 tons of payload. However, construction of

rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

facilities connecting the Upper Silesian coalfields eroded the importance of the waterway. The freight volume on the canal in 1847 was 70,000 tons, but shipments dropped to only 4,400 tons by 1865. Between 1888 and 1893, the canal was expanded to allow the passage of vessels up to 100 tons load and draft. However the waterway did not regain its importance. The Klodnitz Canal facility was replaced by the Gleiwitz (Gliwice) Canal, built from 1935-1939. The territory became part of Poland in 1945 after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

References

Notes

External links

Szymonowicz, Jarosław "A Scotsman in Silesia" Warsaw Voice, 28 March 2007
retrieved on October 16, 2007.
The history of the "Królowa Luiza" mine in Zabrze
retrieved on October 16, 2007. * Pounds, Norman J. G. "The Industrial Geography of Modern Poland".

Economic Geography Economic geography is the subfield of human geography which studies economic activity and factors affecting them. It can also be considered a subfield or method in economics. There are four branches of economic geography. There is, primary secto ...

, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Jul., 1960), pp. 231–253. {{DEFAULTSORT:Klodnica Canal 18th-century establishments in Poland Canals in Poland Buildings and structures in Silesian Voivodeship Canals opened in 1812