The Volga–Baltic Waterway (), formerly known as the Mariinsk Canal System (), is a series of

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 ...

s and rivers in Russia which link the

Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

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 ...

via the Neva. Like the Volga–Don Canal, it is part of the Unified Deep Water System of European Russia which connects the biggest lake on Earth, the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

, to the

World Ocean The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Antarctic/Southern, and ...

. Its overall length between Cherepovets and

Lake Onega Lake Onega (; also known as Onego; , ; ; Livvi-Karelian language, Livvi: ''Oniegujärvi''; ) is a lake in northwestern Russia, on the territory of the Republic of Karelia, Leningrad Oblast and Vologda Oblast. It belongs to the basin of the Baltic ...

is . Originally constructed in the early 19th century, the system was rebuilt for larger vessels in the 1960s, becoming a part of the Unified Deep Water System of European Russia. The original name "Mariinsky" is the credit to Empress Maria Feodorovna, the second wife of Emperor

Paul I of Russia Paul I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1796 until his assassination in 1801. Paul remained overshadowed by his mother, Catherine the Great, for most of his life. He adopted the Pauline Laws, laws of succession to the Russian throne—rules ...

History

After

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

wrested the southern and southeastern shore of the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...

from Sweden, it made for a great city to secure a means of river transport for

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

on the Baltic with the Russian hinterland. These would shift heavy loads in all but the depths of winter. The prototype (via) Vyshny Volochyok canal completed by 1709, provided a connection of Saint Petersburg to

Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake located entirely in Europe, the second largest lake in Russia after Lake ...

. The name of that town means "upper portage". However, the weather on the lake frequently wrecked the barges leading to the ambitious project of the Ladoga Canals into the southern coast of the lake. Under Alexander I of Russia, the waterway through Vychny Volochyok was complemented by the Tikhvin canal system (1811) and the Mariinsk canal system (1810), the latter becoming by far the most popular of the three. The Mariinsk was an outstanding monument of early 19th-century hydrotechnics, which proved to be key to national economic prowess. The system started in Rybinsk and passed through much of the Sheksna River. It then passed Lake Beloye (and Belozersky bypass canal), Kovzha, its artificial Novomariinsky Canal, the Vytegra to pass through

. To or from there vessels sailed through the Onega Canal, the

Svir The Svir (; ; Karelian language, Karelian and Finnish language, Finnish: ) is a river in Podporozhsky District, Podporozhsky, Lodeynopolsky District, Lodeynopolsky, and Volkhovsky District, Volkhovsky districts in the north-east of Leningrad O ...

, the Ladoga Canal, and the Neva to or from the

. In 1829, the Northern Dvina Canal was opened running to the north-east; it connects the lower Sheksna (one of the Volga's tributaries) through Kubenskoye Lake to a canalised Northern Dvina, flowing into the

White Sea The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...

. The system was further expanded: three more canals, Belozersky, Onezhsky, and Novoladozhsky, enabling smaller craft to bypass dangerous waters of the three big lakes (Beloye, Onega and Ladoga), were inaugurated towards the end of the century. Another connection was added in the 1930s, when the infamous White Sea – Baltic Canal was constructed by

gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

prisoners at enormous human cost between Lake Onega and the

Tourism

Since the 1990s the Volga–Baltic Waterway has grown as a tour boat route to sail and/or motor along or around the Golden Ring of Russia.

Heavy power plant transit

In 2016, the core of Astravets Nuclear Power Plant, VVER-1200, which was 330 tonnes, high, and in diameter, was transferred to the plant via the Tsimlyansk Reservoir, the Volga–Don Canal, the Volga–Baltic Waterway, the Volkhov River and a special rail car.

Volga–Baltic Canal improvement

In Soviet times, the Mariinsk canal system was constantly improved. Two locks were built on the Svir River (in 1936 and 1952); 3 locks were built on the Sheksna River. Major improvement of the Volga–Baltic Waterway took place in 1960–1964, and the new Volga–Baltic Waterway was opened on 5 June 1964. 39 old wooden locks were replaced with 7 new locks, and one parallel lock was built later in 1995. The locks' limiting dimensions are long, wide and deep, allowing passage of river-sea ships of up to 5000 tons displacement. Such ships were able to sail directly across the big lakes instead of using the bypass canals. Typical travel: Cherepovets to/from

fell to 2.5–3 days, from 10–15. The modern route sometimes follows the route of the old Mariinsk system and sometimes diverges from it. Six of the canal's eight locks are along of the northern slope, descending . Only 2 locks (which are parallel) are on the southern slope, for a rise of 13 metres, near Sheksna on the Sheksna River, 50 km upstream from Cherepovets. The canal route on the northern slope follows the Vytegra flooded riverbed. Thus the summit pound of the canal between Pakhomovo locks on Vytegra and Sheksna Reservoir dam is . It comprises an artificial canal that is long, much of the Kovzha, Lake Beloye, and part of the Sheksna. The route of the southern slope follows the Shekshna, where it parallels the

Rybinsk Reservoir Rybinsk Reservoir (, ), informally called the Rybinsk Sea, is a water reservoir (water), reservoir on the Volga River and its tributary, tributaries the Sheksna River, Sheksna and Mologa River, Mologa, formed by Rybinsk Hydroelectric Station dam, ...

Current developments

The canal is used for oil and lumber export and for tourism. According to the Maritime Board (''Morskaya Kollegiya'') of the Russian government, 17.6 million tons of cargo were carried over the Volga–Baltic Waterway in 2004, close to its maximum capacity. The Lower

Lock was one of the two busiest locks on Russia's inland waterways (the other one was the Kochetov Lock on the lower Don River).

References

External links

Volga-Baltic waterway on Infoflot site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Volga-Baltic Waterway Canals in Russia Baltic Sea Volga basin Geography of Vologda Oblast Geography of Leningrad Oblast Transport in Leningrad Oblast Canals opened in 1964 Neva River