Page 153 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Sweden

EASTERN GÖ T ALAND  151

Bergs Slussar VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
The staircase of seven
locks at Berg raises Practical Information
boats a total of 18 m Östergötland and Västergötland.
(59 ft). The spectacle n AB Göta Kanalbolag in
of opening the lock Motala, 0141-20 20 50.
gates always attracts ∑ gotakanal.se
an audience.
Transport
@ £ g

Canal Boats
Finspång From May to August
traditional white boats
such as M/S Juno ply the
Norrköpng canal. Built in 1874, Juno
is one of the oldest boats
afloat with sleeping
accommodation
still in use.

Roxen Slätbaken

Linköping

Västervik
0 kilometres 25
Vimmerby 0 miles 15
Key Climbing from the Baltic to Lake Vanern
Motorway “The Blue Band of Sweden” as the Göta Canal is known, is the high point of Swedish engineering history.
Other road It took 58,000 men, mainly soldiers, and 22 years to build a waterway across Sweden from the Baltic Sea
to join the already completed Trollhättan Canal (see p221), and provide a route through to the Kattegatt.
Canal
The problem was not simply digging the canal, but coping with a difference in height of around 92 m
(301 ft). Completing this mammoth project took more than just spades and advantage was taken of the
latest technological innovations – dredgers, hoists, cranes, pile drivers, mortar mills and optical instruments.
Most of the machinery was imported from England, but as the project grew, and with it the need for
mechanical equipment, Baltzar von Platen eventually took the initiative to set up a factory in Motala
where the mechanical equipment could be made or modified. The canal has 58 locks between Mem
on the Baltic and Sjötorp on Lake Vänern.
Sjötorp Töreboda Karlsborg Motala Bergs Slussar Söderköping Mem
Viken: 91.8 m
(301 ft) Vättern: Boren
88.5 m (290 ft) 73.2 m (240 ft)
Vänern: 44 m
(144 ft) Roxen
33.3 m (109 ft)
Baltic Sea
0 m (0 ft)
From Mem the canal begins its climb to reach the highest point between Lakes Vättern and Vänern

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