The Södertälje Canal () 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 ...

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 and its greatest depth is 64 m (210 ft). Mälaren spans from east to west. The l ...

with the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

, at the city of

Södertälje Södertälje ( , ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Stockholm County, Sweden and seat of Södertälje Municipality. It is also a part of Stockholm urban area, Greater Stockholm Metropolitan Area. As of 2020, it has 73,872 inhabitants. Södert� ...

. It is 5.2 km long, and it has one

lock Lock(s) or Locked 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 entertainme ...

. 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 an ...

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, 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, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

apart from 2 smaller bridges in the city of

itself.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sodertalje Canal Canals in Sweden Norrström basin Buildings and structures in Stockholm County Transport in Stockholm County Canals opened in 1819 Södertälje 1819 establishments in Sweden 19th-century establishments in Stockholm County

History

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

See also

References