Volga–Don Canal

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Volga–Don Canal
Volga–Don Canal in October 2009
Volga–Don Canal map
Volga–Don Canal map
Specifications
Length63[1] miles (101 km)
Maximum boat length141 m (463 ft)[2]
Maximum boat beam16.8 m (55 ft)[2]
Maximum boat draft3.6 m (12 ft)[2]
Locks13[3]
Maximum height above sea level144 ft (44 m)
StatusOpen
History
Construction began1948
Date of first use1 June 1952
Date completed1952
Geography
Start pointVolgograd, Russia
End pointTsimlyansk Reservoir, near Volgodonsk, Russia
Beginning coordinates48°37′21″N 43°32′06″E / 48.62250°N 43.53500°E / 48.62250; 43.53500
Ending coordinates48°31′21″N 44°33′09″E / 48.52250°N 44.55250°E / 48.52250; 44.55250

Lenin Volga–Don Shipping Canal (

reservoirs
.

The canal forms a part of the

Mediterranean Sea
.

History

See also: Don–Volga portage

There has been a trade and military route between the

Don
rivers since early human history.

The presence of the fortified settlement Tanais in the Don River delta since the time of the Bosporan Kingdom, c. 438 BC– 370 AD, strongly suggests the route was sufficiently notable to be fortified for over two thousand years. The Sarkel fortress on the left bank of the lower Don was the main control of this Volga trade route.[4]

Sarkel and Tanais on the Volga trade route
Sarkel fortress

The Don–Volga portage got its name from its trade importance 1000 years ago.[5]

In 1569, the

Suez canal, the Volga–Don canal would also allow Central Asian Muslims to perform pilgrimage to Mecca.[6] According to most historians, the Ottomans managed to dig one-third of the canal[7][8] before work was abandoned because of adverse weather.[9] Other historians argue that the Ottomans merely leveled the ground so they could haul ships between the two rivers.[10] In the end, the Ottomans retreated from the area and Russia promised to respect trade and pilgrimage routes to Central Asia.[6]

locks were constructed, and in 1707, about 300 ships passed through with difficulty. In 1709 owing to financial difficulties from the Great Northern War, the project was halted.[15]

Petrov Val canal

In 1711 Russia left Azov under the terms of the Treaty of the Pruth, and Peter the Great lost all interest in the canal, which was abandoned and fell into ruin.[16][17] Over time, other projects for connecting the two rivers were proposed, but none were attempted. However, the horse-drawn Dubovsko-Kachalinsky railway and the Volga–Don railway — now part of the South Eastern Railway — were built in 1846 and 1852, respectively, to link the Volga and the Don at the shortest distance.[18] They were 68km and 73km long respectively.[19][20]

Volga–Don Railway
The remains of the Dubovsko-Kachalinsky Railway

The construction of today's Volga–Don Canal, designed by

Second World War, which interrupted the process. Construction works continued from 1948 to 1952 and the canal was opened on 1 June 1952. The canal and its facilities were built by about 900,000 workers including some 100,000 German POWs and 100,000 gulag prisoners. A day spent at the construction yard was counted as three days in prison, which spurred the prisoners to work. Several convicts were even awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
upon their release.

Upon completion, the Volga–Don Canal became an important link in the

USSR
.

Operation

Satellite map of Volga–Don Canal
Map of Volga–Don Canal

The canal begins at the Volga's Sarepta backwater (48°31′10″N 44°33′10″E / 48.51944°N 44.55278°E / 48.51944; 44.55278 (start), the location of Lock No. 1 and the gateway arch), south of

tonnes cargo capacity
.

The smallest locks are 145 m (476 ft) long, 17 m (56 ft) wide, and 3.6 m (12 ft) deep. The maximum allowed vessel is 141 m (463 ft) length, 16.8 m (55 ft) beam, and 3.6 m (12 ft) draught (the Volgo–Don Max Class).[2]

Profile of Volga–Don Canal

The canal is filled from the Don, with three powerful pumping stations to maintain water levels. Water is also taken from the canal for irrigation.

Cargo transported from the Don region to the Volga includes coal from

petroleum products (carried mostly by Volgotanker
boats).

Tourist cruisers travel in both directions.

Panorama of the canal in Volgograd
Panorama of the canal in the suburbs of Kalach-na-Donu
Volga–Don Canal in Volgograd

The canal and the

German-Soviet War
.

The Russian

tone poem
The Meeting of the Volga and the Don to celebrate its completion.

According to the Maritime Board (Morskaya Kollegiya) of the Russian government, 10.9 million tonnes of cargo were carried over the Volga–Don Canal in 2004.[21] An alternative source claims 8.05 million tonnes of cargo was transported through the canal in 2006. Most of the cargo was moved from the east to the west: 7.20 million tonnes, and only 0.85 million tonnes the other way. Just over half of all cargo was oil or oil products (4.14 million tonnes), predominantly shipped from the Caspian region.[22]

It was reported in 2007 that in the first 55 years of the canal's operations 450,000 vessels had passed through carrying 336 million tonnes of cargo. Recent cargo volume stood at 12 million tonnes per year.[23]

In 2016, the core of

VVER-1200, which weighed 330 tonnes, was 13 meters high, and 4.5 meters in diameter, was transferred to its destination by exploiting Tsimlyansk Reservoir, the Volga–Don Canal, the Volga–Baltic Waterway, and two other connections.[24]

Stamp gallery

Future options

In the 1980s, construction started on a second canal between the rivers. The new canal, dubbed Volga–Don 2 (

Kama ports farther north, on their way to the Don. The project was abruptly cancelled to cut expenditure on 1 August 1990, by which time more than 40 percent of its funds had already been spent.[25][26][27] Since then most of the stone and metal in the abandoned canal and locks has been looted.[28]

As of 2007–2008, Russian authorities are considering two options for increasing the

throughput of navigable waterways between the Caspian basin and the Black Sea. One option, which reuses the name "Volga–Don 2", is to build a second parallel channel ("second thread") of the Volga–Don Canal, equipped with larger locks 300 metres (980 ft) long. This plan would allow for an increase in the canal's annual cargo throughput from 16.5 million tonnes to 30 million tonnes. The other option, which seems to have more support from Kazakhstan,[29] which would be either canal's major customer, is to build the so-called Eurasia Canal along a more southerly route in the Kuma–Manych Depression, some of which is the much shallower Manych Ship Canal. Requiring less digging than the first option and of little use to traffic to and from the Volga, it would provide a speedier connection between the Caspian and the Sea of Azov. It would also require fewer locks than the Volga–Don, as elevations in the Kuma–Manych Depression are lower.[30]

See also

References

  1. ^ Сроки работы шлюзов (Lock operation periods), from the site of the Russian Shipping Companies' Association (in Russian)
  2. ^
    ISBN 9781315643496
    . Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  3. ^ "Volga-Don Canal - canal, Russia". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  4. ^ Elhaik E(2020)Diverse genetic origins of medieval steppe nomad conquerors – a response to Mikheyev et al(2019).
  5. ^ "CA&CC; Press AB". Archived from the original on 20 July 2009.
  6. ^ a b c Giancarlo Casale. The Ottoman Age of Exploration. pp. 135–7.
  7. ^ Halil İnalcık. The Origin of the Ottoman-Russian Rivalry. pp. 79–80.
  8. ISBN 9780521563819
    . The project was abandoned when one-third complete
  9. ^ Colin Imber. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650: The Structure of Power. p. 44.
  10. ^ A. N. Kurat. "The Turkish Expedition to Astrakhan' in 1569 and the Problem of the Don-Volga Canal". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ^ "Where is the Volga-Don Canal?". 25 April 2017.
  12. ^ "Город Петров Вал (Волгоградская область)".
  13. ^ Ilovlya (river in the RSFSR) // Great Soviet Encyclopedia  : [in 30 vol.] / Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov . - 3rd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
  14. ^ Minh A. N. Historical and Geographical Dictionary of the Saratov Province / Comp. A.N. Minh. - Saratov, 1898-1902. - 5 t. - App. To the Works of the Saratov Scientific Archival Commission. - S. 383
  15. ^ Milena Zolotareva (January 2019). "Environmental planning and management of waterway construction (historical experience of Russia in the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century)" (PDF).
  16. ^ Плечко Л.А.: Старинные водные пути. Сервер для туристов и путешественников Скиталец. Информационный сервер обо всех видах туризма (in Russian). Archived from the original on 17 March 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  17. ^ это... Что такое Ивановский канал?. Словари и энциклопедии на Академике (in Russian). Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  18. ^ Skolkov G.S. Tsaritsyn-Stalingrad in the past . - Stalingrad: Edition of the Stalingrad island of local history, 1928. - T. The first essay, 1589-1862.
  19. ^ Collection of freight surface distances of Russian railways / Comp. I.F.Sauer. - St. Petersburg: Br. Panteleev, 1893. - S. 10. - 114 p.
  20. ^ Minh A.N. Dubovsko-Kachalinskaya railway // Historical and geographical dictionary of the Saratov province. - Saratov: Printing house of the provincial zemstvo, 1898. - T. 1, issue 2. - S. 276-277.
  21. ^ Морская коллегия: Речной транспорт Archived 7 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine (Maritime Board: River Transport) (in Russian)
  22. ^ "Взвесить все" (Supplement to the Kommersant newspaper, No. 195/P(4012), 27.10.2008 (in Russian)
  23. ^ «Водный мир» для Евразии ("Eurasia's 'Water World'"; Archived 4 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine), Transport Rossii, No. 28 (472) 12 July 2007 (in Russian).
  24. ^ "В Белоруссию привезли первый реактор для строящейся АЭС".
  25. ^ a b Петр ГОДЛЕВСКИЙ, «ВОЛГО-ДОН 2» — ШАГ В БУДУЩЕЕ Archived 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. «Торговая газета», номер 4-5(434—435) от 23.01.2008
  26. ^ D. J. Peterson, «Troubled Lands: The Legacy of Soviet Environmental Destruction»Chapter 3
  27. ^ "ВОЛГО-ДОН-II: МЫ СТРОИЛИ, СТРОИЛИ И ЧТО?" (We have been building... So what?") Журнал «Власть» (Kommersant-Vlast Magazine), No. 30, 30.07.1990 (in Russian)
  28. ^ "Строительство второго Волго-Донского канала, на нужды которого в свое время было затрачено 750 миллионов рублей, было заморожено 10 лет назад. А приехавшие по призыву комсомола люди так и остались там жить." (14.11.2000)
  29. ^ Nazarbayev insists on Eurasian canal construction Archived 5 May 2005 at the Wayback Machine Kazinform, 22 May 2008
  30. ^ "Analysis: Russia, Kazakhs eye rival canal". United Press International. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008.

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