The Trollhätte Canal () is a canal in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. 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 The (; "River ...

with the lake

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

. 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 () 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 Aniansson, ''Sustainab ...

form a greater 390 km long waterway connecting the

Kattegatt The Kattegat (; ; ) is a sea area bounded by the peninsula of Jutland in the west, the Danish straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the Swedish provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Scania in Sweden in ...

area of the

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

and 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 ...

through the territory of Sweden. This waterway was dubbed as Sweden's Blue Ribbon (). 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 Swede ...

river. The highest point of the Trollhätte Canal is at the Lake Vänern – 44.10

m a.s.l. Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level vari ...

The canal has six locks (downstream towards

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

): : 1. Brinkebergskulle sluss (6 m) –

Vänersborg Vänersborg () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Vänersborg Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 23,882 inhabitants (out of a municipal total of 39,904) Until 1997 it was the capital of Älvsborg County, which mer ...

: 2. Tvåan (9 m) –

Trollhättan Trollhättan () is the 23rd-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Trollhättan Municipality, Västra Götaland County. It is situated by Göta älv, near the lake Vänern, and has a population of approximately 50,000 in the city proper. It is loc ...

upper : 3-5. Slusstrappan (23 m) – Trollhättan lower, triple lock staircase : 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 to ...

, 49 km from Göteborg

Cargo traffic

The canal is open for

cargo In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...

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 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

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 (physical quantity), dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a Base unit (measurement), base unit for length is chosen, ...

: 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 *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

: 13.40 m *

Draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

: 5.40 m *

Vertical clearance In civil engineering, clearance refers to the difference between the loading gauge and the structure gauge in the case of railroad cars or trams, or the difference between the size of any vehicle and the width/height of doors, the width/height of an ...

: 27 m

References

{{Reflist Canals in Sweden Trollhättan Buildings and structures in Västra Götaland County