Elblag Canal

The Elblag Canal was built between 1844 and 1860 to the design of Georg Steenke to connect the Ilawa lakes with the Vistula lagoon, and it had to solve a drop of about a hundred metres over a short distance. Locks would have been too slow and too many, so Steenke used inclined planes: five slipways where the boat floats onto a submerged wheeled cradle, is hauled up or down a rail track over dry land by a cable driven by a water turbine, and refloats at the other end. The machinery is original in principle and still water-powered, which makes it the only canal of this kind still operating anywhere. Cruises run the full route or in sections; the full trip takes about eleven hours, and the shorter Buczyniec run covers the slipways without the whole day. It is a Historic Monument of Poland and has been proposed for wider recognition.

History

Georg Steenke designed the canal between 1825 and 1844 on a commission from the King of Prussia, and construction began in 1844. Over a 9.5-kilometre stretch the difference in height between the lakes was too great for ordinary locks, so inclined planes modelled on those of the Morris Canal were used instead; the canal is 80.5 km long and was named a Historic Monument of Poland on 28 January 2011 (Wikipedia, Elbląg Canal).

What you'll find

• Boats travelling overland - floated onto cradles and hauled up rail tracks.
• Five inclined planes - solving a hundred-metre drop without locks.
• Water-powered machinery - turbines driving the cables, as designed in the 1850s.
• The only working system of its kind - still operating as built.

When to go

May to September. A day.

Practical notes

The full route takes about eleven hours and is slow - most people take a shorter section. Sailings are seasonal and cancelled in low water or breakdowns. Book ahead in July and August. Return transport needs planning.

Nearby

Ostroda and Lake Jeziorak are at the southern end; Elblag is north.

Key facts