The Baltic and White Sea Canal.—The latest project put forward with a view to extending and completing the canal system of Russia is that of an artificial connection between the Baltic and the White Seas. The principal port on the White Sea is Archangel, which is situated on the Dwina, about 30 English miles from its mouth. The building of St. Petersburg took away from Archangel a considerable part of its trade with European countries. The harbour of Archangel is, moreover, none of the best, and the bar at the entrance of the Dwina is said to have only about 14½ feet of water, so that ships which draw more water must be loaded out in the roads by lighters. Nevertheless, the shipping trade of Archangel is still considerable, and it is believed that it would be greatly promoted by a direct connection with the Baltic. The projected canal is estimated to cost 10 millions of roubles (1,000,000l.), and the length of the canal will be 210 versts. General Ignatieff is said to have declared in favour of the undertaking, and the Russian engineers who have reported upon it state that it is easily feasible.
Lake Onega Canal.—Another project that has for some time past found a great deal of favour in Russia is that of a waterway from the White Sea to the Baltic by way of Lake Onega. Communication already exists between the two seas, but it is by a roundabout water route, starting from Archangel, and running up the Dwina to a point near Vologda. A canal would reduce this distance of nearly 1500 miles to about one-third of that figure. The estimated cost of the canal is about 750,000l. The project is one that received the consideration of Peter the Great, who, as we have already seen, was the greatest canal-maker that Russia has produced.
The Volga and Don Canal.—The new canal between the Volga and the Don will be 53 versts in length, and is estimated to cost 2,780,000l. The canal will commence at the Volga, 7 feet below the level of the Black Sea, and will terminate at a point of the river Don which is 119 feet higher than that water. At its tenth verst from the river Don the canal will traverse the river Karpooka, and at the twenty-fourth verst it will pass the Krivomoozquiski Station of the Volga-Don Railway. Here a basin for shipping will be provided. The canal subsequently runs parallel with the railway until it reaches the river Tchervlenoi, a branch of the Karpooka. From this point the watershed of the Volga and the Don will be cut through, the deepest cutting being 140 feet. The soil, however, is sandy, and is easily dealt with. A rapid descent is made at the end of the canal, where there will be a fall of 270 feet in 6 miles, and where thirteen locks, each 6½ metres deep, will be constructed. The total amount of earth to be excavated is estimated at 2,780,000 Russian cubic fathoms. It is proposed to construct each lock large enough to contain at one time two vessels, severally 210 feet long, 42 feet broad, and 7 feet deep.
The Hyegra and Kovja Canal.—In July 1886, a new canal, which forms an important link in the chain of canals that connect the Caspian and the Baltic was opened. This canal is 15 miles in length, 70 feet wide, and 7 feet deep. It joins the rivers Hyegra and Kovja. Upwards of 20,000 labourers were employed in the undertaking, together with three dredging machines, but the greater part of the work was done by hand. The quantity of excavation required was upwards of 270,000 Russian cubic fathoms of earth. Some of the cuttings were 30 feet in depth. The undertaking did not, however, present any engineering difficulties of importance.
The traffic of the Caspian Sea is now very considerable, having been enormously increased within recent years by the development of the petroleum trade of Baku, and of the wealth of the minerals and other natural productions that are common to that region. The Baltic is a natural and the most convenient outlet for a great part of this trade, although pipes have been laid from the Caspian to the Black Sea, in order to discharge the petroleum into ships navigating that waterway.
The Proposed Black Sea and Azov Canal.—During the summer of 1888 the Russian Government complied with a demand for a concession, made by the Black Sea and Azov Canal Company, for the right to construct a canal intended to connect the Don basin and the Sea of Azov with the Dneiper basin and the Black Sea. The length of the proposed canal is stated to be a little over 26 English miles, and the cost is estimated at 3½ millions sterling. The mean depth proposed is about 14 feet. The work of construction is expected to occupy about four years.
It has been remarked as a singular phenomenon that whereas the canal traffic of England has relatively diminished, that of other countries has been maintained. This has been explained by the fact that in other countries the distances are generally greater, and the canals are more like rivers than the narrow waters usual in our own country. On Russian canals, for example, barges range in length from 100 to 300 feet, and, instead of being mere lighters, they are to all intents and purposes the counterparts of ocean-going steamships. Large-sized steamers can proceed from the Neva through the canal system to the Volga, and descend thence to the Caspian Sea. Again, it is no unusual thing for barges of 500 or 1000 tons burden to start from some stream in the Ural Mountains with the floods of spring, and reach the river Neva in the autumn—a journey of nearly 1000 miles.
The canals of Russia were for a long time, and are still to a considerable extent, largely navigated by flat-bottomed barques, of considerable length, but seldom more than 4 feet in depth, and drawing from 20 to 30 inches of water. “Their rudder,” it is said, “is a long tree like an oar. In case of leakage, instead of a pump they put up a rough cross-bar, from which is slung, by means of a rope, a wooden scoop, with which they throw out the water. These vessels are rudely constructed, purposely for conveying only one cargo. They cost from 100 to 300 roubles each (20l. to 60l.), and when they arrive at Archangel, Petersburg, or Riga, and their cargoes are discharged, they are sold or broken up for firewood or other purposes, seldom fetching more than from 20 to 50 roubles.”[107]
The Canals of Finland.—Finland has a considerable wealth of lake navigation, which has been connected by canals to the great gain of local commerce. One of these is the canal of the Samia, which connects a chain of lakes with the Gulf of Finland by a waterway 37 miles long, with a fall of 260 feet. The fifteen locks are all of substantial masonry, and are fitted with wooden gates, the use of iron in connection with the stonework being dispensed with as much as possible, on account of its considerable changes of volume, due to the great range of temperature to which it is exposed. The masonry, though built in hydraulic cement, suffered considerably from the severe cold of winter; but in the year 1870 the plan was adopted of covering the lock chambers by means of 2-inch planks, and allowing the water to flow perpetually through the two gate sluices. Snow is allowed to accumulate over the temporary covers, and as the water running through has a mean temperature of 39° Fahrenheit, the lock chambers are readily kept at a temperature a little above the freezing-point. The levels between the locks are kept full all winter. The practice of running out the water is stated by a recent writer to be destructive to the banks.
The canal of the Pielis connects two lakes; it is 40 miles long, and has a fall of 62 feet, surmounted by ten wooden locks. The crib-work of the walls is loaded with stone, and not clay or earth, as is commonly the case, in consequence of which the woodwork is not forced out of place by the expansion of the frozen filling, and does not rot so quickly.