Masurian Canal

Proposals for a canal connecting the Masurian Lakes area with the Baltic Sea at Königsberg existed from the 18th century, when other canal schemes to connect the Masurian Lakes were enacted by Johann Friedrich Domhardt. An early proposal would have had a canal from to the sea making substantial use of river navigations, and another plan was to have a canal leave Lake Mamry north via Węgielsztyn. A further plan for a canal was proposed in 1849, and a survey was drawn up by 1862. This plan would have used inclined planes as on the nearby Elbląg Canal. Failure to acquire consent from landowners was one reason this proposal did not come to fruition. Two years later, engineer Otto Intze published his Expert Opinion on the Utilization of Considerable Water Power for Industrial Purposes Through the Masurian Shipping Canal () which recommended the installation of hydroelectric power stations at the locks. By 1898 the Landtag approved the land purchase of 200,000ℳ. The canal, planned to make use of the Pregolya and Łyna rivers upstream of Königsberg and a canal from Allenburg (now Druzhba) to Mamry, would drop approximately from the lakes to the river. A second phase of construction would have seen an extension to the Narew valley which would have provided an onward connection to Warsaw. The contract for construction was given to Philipp Holzmann and Dyckerhoff & Widmann, and construction began in April 1911. When construction recommenced after the war, completion was planned for 1940. In 1921, it was again suggested that the canal could be used for hydroelectric power, with a recognised capacity of up to . The following year, hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic again put works on hold. The outbreak of the Second World War again halted construction; the cut was complete but many of the locks along the waterway remained unfinished. a legend suggests that the canal's real purpose was to serve a secret U-boat facility at Mauerwald. Works were finally abandoned in 1942. == Route ==

The canal begins at a fortified junction with Lake Przystań, a bay on the west side of Lake Mamry, at approximately AMSL. Heading west, the canal was crossed by a road bridge and a railway bridge carrying the Kętrzyn–Węgorzewo line. The first lock, Leśniewo Upper Lock, is that with the greatest rise. Beyond the second lock, Leśniewo Lower Lock, the first cut ends and the waterway makes use of for of its route. The canal heads north from the lake on another cut, through Piaski Lock, the only completed lock on the Polish side of the canal. Passing the Marszałki forest, the canal drops through locks at Bajory Małe and Bajory Wielkie. Beyond the locks the canal was crossed by the narrow gauge railway between Barciany and Krylovo. The last lock on the Polish side, Długopole Lock, had the lowest rise of any on the canal. Adjacent to the lock was a watchtower, now administered by the Polish Teachers' Union. North of the Poland–Russia border, the dry canal bed heads north-west and was crossed by the Zheleznodorozhny–Krylovo railway; the bridge is now demolished. The route passes through forest and the lost village of Wikrowo. The first lock in Russia is Ozerki Lock, beyond which is a railway bridge defended by anti-tank obstacles. After the next lock, near the village of Marinovka, the canal passes the Mauenwalde estate before heading west and reaching a lock at Kostromino. At Druzhba, two locks drop the canal to the level of the Łyna (approximately AMSL); after the village, the canal enters a sweeping curve to the north to join the river. == Specifications ==

The cut was dug to a specification of depth, a maximum beam of . The beam at waterline (i.e. the breadth of the canal from bank to bank) was . The canal alternated between cuttings and embankments, with some earthworks reaching high. The channel was lined with of stone to prevent leakage. Where the canal was cut through marshy ground, it was further strengthened with reinforced concrete. • Category 1 – locks with a rise less than (Długopole Lock, Marinovka Lock, Druzhba Lock 1, and Druzhba Lock 2) • Category 2 – locks with a rise of (Piaski Lock, Bajory Lock, and Kostromino Lock) • Category 3 – locks with a rise greater than (Leśniewo Upper Lock, Leśniewo Lower Lock, and Ozerki Lock) These categories dictated the power systems used to drive the mechanisms of the gates, the need for side pounds (groups 2 and 3 only) to reduce water consumption when lockaging, and the type of lock gate used. The superstructure of the upper lock at Leśniewo features a recess for the Reichsadler of the coat of arms of the Third Reich. At the abandonment of works, the locks were in varying states of completion. == Bibliography ==