Kłodnica Canal
Kłodnicki Canal (Polish: Kanał Kłodnicki) ran along the Kłodnica River in Poland between the Oder River and Gliwice. Designed by John Baildon, an engineer from Scotland and Friedrich Wilhelm von Reden (Polish: Fryderyk), Director of the High Mining Office in Wrocław, it was built between 1792 and 1812. It had a length of about km ( mi) and an altitude difference of about meters ( ft).
The Kłodnica was not navigable, a canal was needed to provide transportation for the flourishing coal and ore mining, as well as the metallurgy industry in the Upper Silesia region.
The depth of the canal and the design of the locks allowed the use of vessels of up to 50 tons of payload. However, construction of rail transport 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 meters ( ft) draft. However the waterway did not regain its importance.
The Kłodnicki Canal facility was replaced by the Gliwice Canal (Kanal Gliwicki).
References
- 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, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Jul., 1960), pp. 231-253.
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