Luggage locks Göta Canal
The Göta Canal () is a Swedish canal constructed in the early 19th century. The canal stretche from Gothenburg on the west coast, combined with the river Göta älv and the Trollhätte canal, through the large lakes Vänern and Vättern, in parallel with Motala ström, and to Söderköping on the Baltic Sea.
The architect was Baltzar von Platen, working to plans earlier developed at the request of the Swedish king by the Scottish civil engineer Thomas Telford; he got permission to begin to work on April 11, 1810 and the canal was officially opened on September 26, 1832. Telford himself travelled to Sweden in 1810 to oversee some of the initial excavations on the project.
Built only decades before the advent of railways, the canal was soon outdated, and never upgraded. The canal is a tourist attraction, sometimes called Sveriges blå band (”Sweden’s Blue Ribbon”).
To support the building of the canal with mechanical works, a small engineering workshop was established in Motala called Motala Verkstad. This industry has sometimes been referred to as cradle of the Swedish engineering industry.
Several movies depict the canal, most notably the 1981 comedy Göta Kanal, in which two competing yacht constructors race the canal in order to win a huge construction stock order. In 2006, Göta Kanal 2 was released.
From the east-coast of Sweden all the way to the west-coast the locks are as follows:
(with meters per locks)
- Mem, 3
- Tegelbruket, 2.3
- Söderköping, 2.4
- Duvkullen nedre, 2.3
- Duvkullen övre, 2.4
- Mariehov nedre, 2.1
- Mariehov övre, 2.6
- Carlsborg nedre, 5.1
- Carlsborg övre, 4.7
- Klämman, open
- Hulta, 3.2
- Bråttom, 2.3
- Norsholm, 0.8
- Carl Johans slussar (seven locks), 18.8
- Oskars slussar, 4.8
- Karl Ludvig Eugéns slussar, 5.5
- Brunnby, 5.3
- Heda, 5.2
- Borensberg, 0.2
- Borenshult, 15.3
- Motala, 0.1
Lake Vättern
- Forsvik, 3.5
- Tåtorp, 0.2
- Hajstorp övre, 5.0
- Hajstorp nedre, 5.1
- Riksberg, 7.5
- Godhögen, 5.1
- Norrkvarn övre, 2.9
- Norrkvarn nedre, 2.9
- Sjötorp 7-8, 4.6
- Sjötorp 6, 2.4
- Sjötorp 4-5, 4.8
- Sjötorp 2-3, 4.8
- Sjötorp 1, 2.9
The canal is nicknamed “skilmässodiket” which translates to “divorce ditch”. The name refers to the stress endured by couples navigating the numerous locks in the canal.