Klodnitz Canal
The Klodnitz Canal (Polish Kanał Kłodnicki ) was created in the years 1792 to 1812 as a waterway between the cities of Gliwice and Cosel according to the design of the Scottish engineer John Baildon (1772-1846). The artificial waterway connected the rivers Klodnitz and Oder over a length of about 46 km with a height difference of about 49 m.
history
After the flourishing of coal and ore mining as well as metallurgy in the Upper Silesian Revier, which began at the end of the 18th century, there was an urgent need for a connection to the Oder so that the products could be transported by water. Since the Klodnitz was not navigable, it was decided to build a canal next to the river. However, the depth of the canal and the design of the locks only allowed ships with a maximum load of 50 t to be used. For larger ships that z. B. could operate on the Finow Canal , the Klodnitz Canal was not passable.
A first lock, which was mainly used to transfer goods to the Oder ships, was located in Klodnitz . At the second and third locks in Kandrzin-Pogorzelletz , the raft wood from the nearby Upper Silesian forests was laid.
With the connection of the Upper Silesian Revier to the railway, the importance of the canal declined rapidly. In 1847 70,000 t of goods were shipped on the canal, but in 1865 it was only 4400 t. The canal was expanded again between 1888 and 1893, so that it was now possible to pass ships with a load of up to 100 t and a draft of 1.20 m. The canal never regained its original importance.
The function of the Klodnitz Canal was replaced by the Gliwice Canal , which was expanded between 1934 and 1939 .