- Hjälmare kanal
Hjälmaren Canal (Swedish: "Hjälmare kanal" IPA| [ 'jɛl:ˌmaʐɛʰ ˌkan:'ɒ:l ] ) is a 13 kilometres long
canal that connectsLake Hjälmaren withLake Mälaren inSweden .The canal was taken into use in
1639 , aimed to transport iron from the Central Swedish Mining District to Stockholm and further abroad. Plans to extend the canal east of Örebro to LakeVänern and further toGöta älv were never realized. InsteadGöta Canal , located further south and taken into use in1832 , fulfilled the aimed function of connecting the Baltic with theNorth Sea .Traffic on the Hjälmaren Canal was frequently discontinued due to a considerable maintenance need, which is why the canal was relocated in
1830 . The relocation led to radically decreased maintenance costs and increased reliability. But the canal's importance diminished in the late 19th century due to competition fromrail transport . At the same time Sweden's metallurgic and timber industry came to focus on provinces far further north in Sweden.Since the reconstruction of 1830, 9
canal lock s lower the boats 22 metres down to Lake Mälaren. Boats may not exceed the dimensions 30x7 metres and a maximum draught of 1.9 metres.External links
* [http://www.thohagstrom.com/cpg1410/thumbnails.php?album=14 Photo page]
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