Augustów Canal

The Augustów Canal between Gorczyckie and Orle Lakes

Construction and operations (1821–1850)
The reasons behind the construction of the Augustów Canal were both political and economic.[1] In 1821, Prussia introduced repressively high customs duties for transit of Russian Empire goods through its territory, in effect hindering access to their seaports for traders operating outside of Prussian territory.[2][3] In 1822, the Kingdom of Poland was granted commercial autonomy from Russian Empire's customs area.[4] The idea of Polish Minister of Economy, Franciszek Ksawery Drucki-Lubecki, was to make the new trade route independent of the Prussian seaport of Danzig (Gdańsk).[5]

In August 1822 Franciszek Ksawery Drucki-Lubecki made the order of planning a waterway from Narew and Biebrza rivers to Neman river and then to the mouth of Windau river at the Baltic Sea. The field surveys to link the basins of the Neman and Vistula were begun with the permissions of the Russian Ministry of Communications in 1823. The Russian field party was led by lieutenant-colonel Reeze from the Corps of Transport Engineers and lieutenant-colonel Ignacy Prądzyński from the General Quartermasters' Office of the Polish Army. Reeze and Pradzynski met in Grodno on 28 June 1823. Lieutenant-colonel Pradzynski and four officers from the engineering corps carried out the topographical survey on Polish territory concentrating mainly on the lakes near to Augustow and the river Chorna Gancha. In the same time, the Reeze's group worked on Biebrza river and the smaller river of Lososna, Tatarka and Polilia.[6]

In the years 1823–1839 a waterway designed by General Ignacy Prądzyński, French General and engineer Jan Chrzciciel de Grandville Malletski and General Jan Paweł Lelewel was constructed, including buildings and hydraulic engineering structures, intended to bypass Prussian territory and link the center of the Kingdom of Poland with the Baltic seaport of Ventspils (Polish: Windawa).[7][8][9][10] The building of the final "windawski" section[8][11] of the waterway (Windawski Canal), which was to connect the new trading route to Ventspils, was relinquished due to unrest caused by the 1830–1831 November Uprising against Russia and revised trade agreements with Prussia.[8][10]

Decline and abandonment (1850–1920)
During the latter half of the 19th century the rail network, such as nearby the Saint Petersburg – Warsaw Railway, started to replace the canal as the primary means of transporting goods. The channel gradually began to decline, from 1852 on it floated only forest products and from the mid-1860s the canal channel was scored.[8]

Rebirth and destruction (1920–1945)
The First World War and the Polish-Soviet War caused some damage to the canal, but it was rebuilt by the Second Polish Republic during the early 1920s. Between the World Wars, the canal became a tourist attraction for the first time. It was a picturesque tourist route providing excellent sporting opportunities for canoeists, sailors and boaters. World War II saw the destruction of a number of locks and weirs of the canal. During the Second World War, German troops blew up three locks, about a dozen bridges and eight weir.[9] After World War II the Polish part of the canal has been restored.[9]

Division and reconstruction (1950–2005)
The post-war redrawing of the eastern Polish border, see Curzon Line had a significant impact upon the canal. The Border Agreement between Poland and the USSR of 16 August 1945 drew a segment of the Polish-Belorussian SSR border along the axis of the Kurzyniec Lock and further along the axis of the canal for an additional 3.5 kilometres (2.2 miles). During the 1950s the People's Republic of Poland rebuilt the canal from the start on the Bezbra to Tartak Lock the remaining portion in Poland was left inactive after the damage incurred from World War II.[9] The USSR performed no repairs on the portion of the canal within the Belorussian SSR.[9] The Belarusian part of the canal since the partition has become a unique ecosystem, in 1970 the Sapotskinsky Biological Reserve was created to help preserve the area.[12]

According to the decision of the Polish Minister of Culture and the Arts from 21 December 1968 the Augustów Canal on the section from Augustów to the state border with the infrastructure: locks, dams, bridges, housing banks, building maintenance services, environment, landscape and plant was declared a monument of technology Class I.[9] Then, on 9 Feb 1979, the Voivode's decision Suwalki Augustów Canal for its entire length was entered in the register of monuments.[9]

Treasured status (2005 – present)
On 8 June 2005, based on Council of Ministers Resolution No. 125/2005 of 22 May 2005 concluded the "Agreement between the Government of the Polish Republic and the Government of the Republic of Belarus on the reconstruction of the Augustów Canal section of the border."[9] The aim of the project was to restore the canal to operable condition for tourists, provide rational water management in the Black Hańcza river valley and restore the natural ecosystem of the waterway.[9] Another event is the recognition of the Augustów Canal as a Monument of History — Regulation of the Polish President of 15 April 2007 (Dz. U. Nr 86 poz. 572).[9] The canal is currently a conservation protection zone proposed by Poland and Belarus for inscription onto the World Heritage List of UNESCO.[13]

Augustów Canal is in the lower right of the map

The canal utilizes a postglacial depression and numerous valleys in the Masurian Lake District that were shaped by the Pleistocene ice age. Many of the surrounding hills are parts of moraines and many of its lakes are moraine-dammed lakes. It is based in the long natural chain of Augustów lakes and the adjoining rivers.[14] The qualities of the landscape made it possible to perfectly integrate the canal with its environment over its 101.20 km length. The watershed area of the canal on the Polish side of the border is 74.25 km² and on the Belarusian side, 8.42 km² for a total of 82.67 km².[14]

The canal connects seven natural moraine-dammed lakes: Necko, Białe, Studzieniczne, Orle, Paniewo, Krzywe and Mikaszewo; and 11 rivers: Biebrza, Netta, Czarna Hańcza, Klonownica, Plaska (Sucha Rzeczka, Serwianka), Mikaszówka, Perkucia, Szlamica, Wolkuszanka, Ostaszanka and Neman.[14] The natural waterways are interconnected by cuttings and hydraulic installations with locks and weirs, including towpaths along the canal bank and a system of roads, bridges and buildings.[14] A water reserve feeding the canal is provided from outside the buffer zone by the Sajno, Serwy and Wigry lakes, all within the boundaries of the protected area. Six historic sluices, Przewięź, Paniewo, Perkuć, Sosnówek, Tartak and Kudrynki, are easy to access from the green trail used by hikers and cyclists.[14]

Augustów Lock is the fifth lock on the canal

The Augustów Canal remained, after completion, an inland waterway of local significance that was used for commercial shipping and to transport wood to and from the Vistula River and Neman River.[9] The canal was used to transport the flour, salt, grain, chalk, gypsum, etc. In Augustów a large port was built in addition to a number of tow paths for horses to pull barges upstream. The canal was designed for the passage of vessels up to 40 m long, up to 5 m in width and capable of carrying up to 10 tons of cargo.[8]

During the latter half of the 19th century the rail network, such as nearby the Saint Petersburg – Warsaw Railway, started to replace the canal as the primary means of transporting goods. The channel gradually began to decline, from 1852 on it floated only forest products and from the mid-1860s the canal channel was scored.[8]

Starting in the late 1920s the canal became a tourist attraction for the first time. It was a picturesque tourist route providing excellent sporting opportunities for canoeists, sailors and boaters.[9] After World War II the Polish part of the canal has been restored.[9]

Currently the canal offers numerous sightseeing and tourist attractions. Its unsurpassed beauty comes from the natural qualities of the landscape with coniferous forests and lakes, especially around the Biebrza and Netta Rivers, and it runs through the Augustów Primeval Forest from west to east.[15] The biggest attraction is to navigate the waterway in a kayak, canoe, fishing boat or a motorboat.[15] It is also possible to visit part of the canal and the Augustów lakes in a passenger ship.[16]

The Augustów Canal was the first summit level canal in Central Europe to provide a direct link between the two major rivers, Vistula River through the Biebrza River – a tributary of the Narew River, and the Neman River through its tributary – the Czarna Hancza River, and it provided a link with the Black Sea to the south through the Oginski Canal, Daugava River, Berezina Canal and Dnieper River. From the time it was first built, the canal was described by experts as a technological marvel, with numerous sluices contributing to its aesthetic appeal.[17]

The Augustów Canal, consisting of 18 locks and 22 sluices, is divided into two major sections: the West — from the merger of the Biebrza lock Augusta (0.0 – 32.50 km); and the East section — from lock to lock Niemnowo Augusta Belarus (32.50 – 101.20 km).[14][17][18]

Vistula river watershed

Biebrza River to Augustów Lock (0.0 – 32.50 km)

Augustów Canal
Western Half
km Biebrza River 00.35 Dębowo Lock 13.20 Sosnowo Lock 13.22 Sosnowo Weir 19.25 Borki Lock 19.35 Borki Weir 24.80 weir 26.60 weir 27.10 Białobrzegi Lock Lake Sajno 32.50 Augustów Lock km

Kilometer	Description	Coordinates
0.0	Start at the Biebrza River (84.2 km from the river source)[7][9]
0.35–10.95	Canalized Netta River[7][9]
0.35	Dębowo Lock and weir[7][9]	53.609978°N 22.930051°E / 53.609978; 22.930051
10.95–32.50	Lateral canal parallel to the Netta River[7][9]
13.20	Sosnowo Lock. Weir to discharge excess water from the Sosnowo-Borki segment to the Netta River[7][9]	53.700272°N 22.926201°E / 53.700272; 22.926201
19.25	Borki Lock[7][9]	53.755095°N 22.915075°E / 53.755095; 22.915075
19.35	Weir to discharge excess water from the Borki-Białobrzegi segment to the Netta River[7][9]	53.756433°N 22.915033°E / 53.756433; 22.915033
24.80	Weir to discharge excess water from the Borki-Białobrzegi segment to the Netta River[7][9]	53.796686°N 22.945384°E / 53.796686; 22.945384
26.60	The canal passes through the village of Białobrzegi, Weir to discharge excess water from the Borki-Białobrzegi segment to the Netta River[7][9]	53.804657°N 22.96637°E / 53.804657; 22.96637
27.10	Białobrzegi Lock[7][9]	53.806976°N 22.968698°E / 53.806976; 22.968698
27.60	Weir to discharge excess water from the Białobrzegi-Augustów segment to Lake Sajno[7][9]
32.50	Augustów Lock and Augustów Weir. The weir controls the outflow from Lake Necko to Lake Sajna via the Bystry Canal (Polish: Kanał Bystry). The purpose is to establish a reserve water storage to supply the Augustów-Dębowo section of the canal.[7][9]	53.841365°N 22.990948°E / 53.841365; 22.990948

The canal is currently a conservation protection zone proposed by Poland and Belarus for inscription onto the World Heritage List of UNESCO. This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on 30 January 2004, in the Cultural category.[19]

The canal was also named one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments (Pomnik historii), as designated 16 May 2007. Its listing is maintained by the National Heritage Board of Poland.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Augustów Canal.

• "Tentative list of Polish submissions to UNESCO". UNESCO. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
• "Augustów Canal on UNESCO Tentative List of Cultural Properties". UNESCO. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
• The Augustów Canal at www.suwalszczyzna.pl Archived 7 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine
• https://web.archive.org/web/20120322230834/http://www.warszawa.rzgw.gov.pl/lewe_menu-utrzymanie_wod_i_urzadzen_wodnych-wykaz_administrowanych_obiektow-kanal_augustowski.html?skipcheck (in Polish)
• Michałowski, Andrzej (1999). Przebieg channel na Podstawa: Krajobraz kulturowy Augustowskiego channel (in Polish). Warsaw. ISBN 978-83-85548-73-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Блакітная кніга Беларусі: Энцыкл. / БелЭн; Рэдкал.: Н.А. Дзісько і інш. — Мн.: БелЭн, 1994. (in Belarusian)
• "Здымкі на" (in Belarusian). Radzima.org. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
• "opracowanie nt kanału Augustowskiego znajdujące się na stronach Regionalnego Zarządu Gospodarki Wodnej w Warszawie" (PDF) (in Polish). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 June 2019.
• Batura, Irena (1997). Po ziemi augustowskiej : przewodnik dla turysty i wczasowicza (in Polish). Suwałki: Wydawnictwo Hańcza. ISBN 978-83-904804-9-7.
• Batura, Wojciech; Bełkot, Jan (2005). Kanał Augustowski Arcydzieło Rąk Ludzkich i Natury (in Polish). Toruń: Wydawnictwo Młotkowski.
• Morawska-Ciesielska, Helena. "175 lat Kanału Augustowskiego". Gospodarka Wodna (1998 nr 12 and 1999 nr 1).
• "Kanał Augustowski" (in Polish). kanaly.info. Archived from the original on 18 April 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
• Stanisław Konior, Kanał Augustowski, Giżycko, August 1997 (in Polish)

53°52′N 22°58′E