Elbląg Canal opens after two-year restoration
PR dla Zagranicy
John Beauchamp
29.05.2015 15:24
The Elbląg Canal, an 80-kilometre waterway with unique tracks connecting a number of lakes, reopened on Friday after renovation works lasting two years.
Photo: cc/Wikimedia Commons
The investment cost some PLN 111 million – PLN 48 million of which came from EU funds – and is the first renovation of Poland’s longest canal in 150 years.
Tracks, engine huts, as well as other equipment along the canal were renovated, as well as repairs to four locks along the canal’s route from Lake Drużno to the Vistula Lagoon in northern Poland.
“All works were done under the watchful eye of conservation officers,” Bogusław Pinkiewicz, spokesman for the Regional Water Management Authority in Gdańsk told the PAP news agency.
“Old constructions and mechanisms were returned to their former glory according to their original plans,” Pinkiewicz said, although added that the manual lock mechanisms had been bolstered with electric motors.
The Elbląg Canal was built between 1844-81 and originally fell in Prussia, where it was called the ‘Oberland’ canal.
In 2011, the canal was designated as one of Poland’s official Historic Monuments. (jb)
Source: PAP