Soot Canal

59°53′26.88″N 11°51′29.51″E / 59.8908000°N 11.8581972°E / 59.8908000; 11.8581972SpecificationsLocks16Maximum height above sea level201 metres (659 ft)Minimum height above sea level185 metres (607 ft)Total rise16 metres (52 ft)StatusClosedHistoryDate completed1849Date closed1932GeographyStart pointLake SkjervangenEnd pointLake MortsjølungenBeginning coordinates59°53′40″N 11°52′07″E / 59.894329°N 11.86873197°E / 59.894329; 11.86873197Ending coordinates59°53′05″N 11°51′09″E / 59.88461520°N 11.8526346°E / 59.88461520; 11.8526346

The Soot Canal (Norwegian: Sootkanalen) was a canal system located in Eidskog Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. Constructed in 1849, it has Norway's oldest sluice gates. It was the work of Engebret Soot (1786-1859). It was built to allow timber to be transported (floated) to the Halden sawmills. The canal was 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) long and had 16 locks which extended from Lake Skjervangen at an elevation of 185 metres (607 ft) above sea level up to Lake Mortsjølungen at 201 metres (659 ft) above sea level.^[1][2]

The Soot Canal was in operation from 1849 to 1932. The channel consisted of the original 16 locks between Skjervangen and Mortskjølungen. The Grasmobanen, a 1,460-metre (4,790 ft) long railroad that hauled the timber between the lakes Mortsjølungen and Tvillingtjern, was also part of the canal system.^[3] In 1987, the municipality of Eidskog acquired rights to the countercurrent sluice system and labeled it a landmark attraction.^[4]

References

Other sources

• "Great pictures of the sluice gates" (in Norwegian). Blogspot. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
• "Sootkanalen" (in Norwegian). Info from Eidskogmuseum. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
• "Sootkanalen" (in Norwegian). Info from Akershusmuseet. Retrieved 27 February 2015.

External links

• Sootkanalen (Eidskog Museum)