Bata Canal
Encyclopedia
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
on Morava river in the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. The water canal was built during 1934-38 and today it serves mainly for recreational cruises.
History
Reasons for building the canal were two: attempt to increase level of groundwaterGroundwater
Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...
after Morava River was regulated and as an initial phase of long planned but never realized Danube-Oder-Canal
Danube-Oder-Canal
The Danube-Oder Canal is a planned and partially constructed artificial waterway in the Lobau floodplain of the Danube at Vienna, that was supposed to stretch along the Morava River to the Oder at the city of Kędzierzyn-Koźle in Poland.- Overview :...
.
The immediate reason for the construction was need to transfer lignite
Lignite
Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, or Rosebud coal by Northern Pacific Railroad,is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere between coal and peat...
from mine in Ratíškovice
Ratíškovice
Ratíškovice is a village in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has around 4,000 inhabitants.Football club Baník Ratíškovice resides here.-External links:*...
to the Otrokovice
Otrokovice
Otrokovice is a town in the Zlín Region, Czech Republic. It is located in a hilly country town centrally located in a region called Moravia and is located on the Morava river. The approximate population in 1967 was 20,000 people. A large shoe factory founded by Tomáš Baťa provided work for many....
power plant. Both were owned by Bata Shoes
Bata Shoes
Bata Shoes is a large, family owned shoe company based in Bermuda but currently headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, operating 3 business units worldwide – Bata Metro Markets, Bata Emerging Markets and Bata Branded Business. It has a retail presence in over 50 countries and production...
(Baťovy závody) and the company was the main investor (the rest was paid by the state). Construction started on October 16, 1934 and was finished during autumn 1938. The canal was financed by Jan Anotnin Bata in cooperation with the Czechoslovak state.
Technical details
The route is 51.8 km long, of which 27 km fall to the MoravaMorava
Morava is a Slavic river name. It may refer to:Rivers:* Great Morava in central Serbia** South Morava , tributary of the Great Morava** West Morava , tributary of the Great Morava...
river, 1 km to the Dřevnice
Dřevnice
Dřevnice is a river in the Czech Republic, the left tributary of the Morava River. It originates in the Vizovice Highlands upland at the elevation of 560 m and flows for 41.6 km to Otrokovice, where it enters the Morava River....
river and 24 km is artificial canal. Difference in water levels is 18.6 m.
Totally 33 bridges spanned over the canal. The canal had 14 canal locks. Some parts of technical infrastructure were quite unique at the time of construction.
Canal today
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the canal was severely damaged and only partially repaired (repairs lasted until 1949). Its use for transportation declined and in 1972 it was officially abandoned.
In 1995 the route was reopened for sightseeing tours. After repairs 13 canal locks are accessible now. The canal became the most popular tourist destination of the region. It is also used for transportation of industrial goods and plans exist to extend it downstream to the border of Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
. http://node0.bvv.cz/i2000/Akce/b-go.nsf/WWWAllPDocsID/MKAA-6KKH5W?OpenDocument&LANG=CZ&NAV=1&ID=0