THE WATERWAYS OF GERMANY.
“How many spacious countries does the Rhine,
In winding banks and mazes serpentine,
Traverse, before he splits on Belgia’s plain,
And, lost in sand, creeps to the German main.”
_Sir R. Blackmore._
There is perhaps no country that enjoys greater facilities of transport
than Germany, relatively to its area, its population, and its commerce.
This happy condition of things is due, partly to the fostering care of
a paternal government, which has taken transportation under its special
care, and controls by far the larger part of the ways of communication
both by land and water; partly to the competition, at low rates of
freight, between railways, rivers, and canals; and partly to the close
attention which has been given by traders, economists, and engineers
to the problems that determine the ultimate economy of transport under
different conditions. With a railway system that has now been completed
to the extent of 25,000 miles, with 17,000 miles of rivers, and with
1250 miles of canal navigation that is soon likely to be considerably
increased, the German Empire offers facilities for the study of the
transportation problem that entitle it to the serious attention of
all who are interested in the matter. This is all the more obvious
that Germany, although possessed of very moderate natural resources
otherwise, has attained a front rank among commercial nations.
_River Systems._—The chief river systems of Germany are those of the
Rhine, draining an area of 76,000 square miles, and having a course
of 850 miles; the Elbe, which drains an area of 55,000 square miles,
and is, next to the Rhine, the most important of the German rivers;
the Oder, which has a drainage basin of 50,000 square miles, and
a course of 550 miles; the Vistula, which rises in the Carpathian
mountains, 2000 feet above sea level, has a drainage area of 74,000
square miles, and a length of 600 miles; the Niemen, which has a
drainage area conterminous with that of the Düna, and of about the
same extent, i. e., 35,000 square miles; the Weser, which has a
drainage area of 18,000 square miles, and a course of 355 miles; with
the Ems and one or two smaller streams. The flow of the chief streams
is as follows:—
River. Sea.
The Danube The Black Sea.
Rhine, Elbe, and Weser The North Sea.
Vistula, Oder, Memel, and Pregel The Baltic.
Of the Danube we shall speak at some length when we come to deal with
the waterways of Austria, to which that river mainly belongs. But most
of the other rivers of Germany have been more or less canalised, and we
shall therefore refer to some of the changes thereby effected in river
transport.
_The Rhine._—The lowest velocity of the Rhine is 2·62 feet per second;
the highest 11·15 feet per second, and, at Düsseldorf, 5·24 to 6·56
feet, with 9·84 feet mean-water on the Cologne gauge. The width of the
river at St. Goar is 180 yards, and the depth 98 feet; at Düsseldorf it
is 275 yards wide, and 72 feet deep. These are the two greatest depths
of the river. In the Rheingau and the Lower Rhine, the width increases
to about 770 yards. At Wesel the proportion of volume of low and high
water is 1·14.
The steamers now employed to navigate the Rhine are constructed for
cargoes of about 800 tons. The first improvement-works were carried out
from 1847 to 1850; in 1868, with low water equal to 4·92 on the Cologne
gauge, the channel from Bingen to Coblenz was clear to an equal minimum
depth of 6·56 feet; from Coblenz to Cologne 8·2 feet; and from Cologne
to Rotterdam, 9·84 feet.
In 1874, the 8·2 feet channel was extended from Cologne to St. Goar.
With the improvement works, the width of the river channel is now from
100 to 160 yards; below Cologne it expands to 330 yards. The cost of
the works has been as under:—
£
Previous to 1851 650,000
1881-1861 225,000
1861-1879 475,000
The remaining works are to be completed within
eighteen years at an estimated cost of 1,100,000
──────────
Making the total expenditure £2,450,000
──────────
Down to Cologne the banks rise above water level. Further seawards the
ground is low-lying, and dykes have to be employed. These commence near
Düsseldorf.
The traffic carried on the Rhine is very considerable, especially
between the Dutch ports and the Westphalian manufacturing districts.
It embraces large quantities of coal, iron ore, iron and steel
manufactures, &c., and the cost of its transport compares favourably
with railway rates.
The navigable length of the Rhine is 435 miles, and on this length it
has a yearly traffic of about 5500 vessels, averaging some 200 tons
each. The Rhine has a greater density of traffic than the Danube, on
which only some 800 vessels are employed, also averaging some 200
tons; but the Danube, which is navigable to Regensburg, 281 miles
from Vienna, has a much longer navigation. It is believed that chain
traction could be carried as far as Ulm, which is 131 miles farther.
_The Ems._—This river has a limited interior communication, the tide
flowing for not more than 15 to 20 miles. The Ems takes its rise only
in the territory of Münster, receiving the river Hase, a little above
Meppen, and the Söste at Leer, and it is navigable at no great distance
in its current. It then runs by the Dollart, a sort of bay betwixt
Emden and the Dutch coast, into the North Sea, in two branches; one
called the eastern, the other the western Ems, forming betwixt them the
island of Borcum. Formerly the river passed close by Embden, from a
cut being made to force the current of the river that way, but, being
neglected, it has taken its course by the coast of Gröningen. A narrow
channel from Embden is, however, kept clear, in consequence of four
sluices in the town, which are opened whilst the ebb tide continues.
The Ems has enjoyed a considerable degree of celebrity, not so much
from its extent as from its local advantages, and from the political
situation of Holland. It enjoys a free navigation by its neutrality, it
is under the protection of Prussia, and it is contiguous to Delfzyl,
an excellent entrance into Holland, by a canal which runs through the
northern provinces, by the city of Gröningen, into the Zuyder Zee. It
thus communicates with all Holland and Flanders, the trade of which
countries, and some parts of Germany and France, were formerly largely
carried on by it.
_The Mosel._—The canalisation of the Mosel from Frouard to
Diedenhofen, nearly 57 miles, is a portion of an intended navigable
communication from Louisenthal, on the Rhine-Marne canal system, to
Saar-Kohbenbecken, on the Saar. From Frouard to Arnaville, about 25
miles, it was carried out by the French Government between 1867 and
1870; and from Arnaville to Metz by the Prussian Government, under Herr
J. Schlichting, between 1872 and the present time. The canalisation
from Metz to Diedenhofen, and the proposed connection between the Nied
canals of the Mosel, the Saar, and the Maas, remain to be completed. As
the main object of this canalisation was to provide a navigable passage
for craft having a draught of 5·9 feet, the minimum depth of water was
fixed at 6·56 feet. The bottom width of the canal is 39·4 feet.
Of the 25·15 miles of river dealt with by the French, only 3·14 miles
were rendered navigable. The remainder of the main course adapted for
navigation consisted of four portions of canal, in all 17 miles in
length. In addition there were 1·25 mile of short canals, connecting
the main course with the Mosel. Corresponding to the canals there are
four movable weirs in the Mosel at Custines, Marbache, Dieulouard,
and Pont-à-Mousson, which maintain the necessary water-level in dry
seasons. The fall from the Rhine-Marne Canal at Frouard to the Mosel
system is 26·25 feet, and the fall from Frouard to Amaville is 48·6
feet, overcome by six locks. The cost of these 20 miles of navigable
channel is stated by the French engineers to have been 208,000_l_.
The German works recently executed include a continuation of the main
canal from Arnaville to Novéant, where it debouches into the Mosel for
a length of 1·05 mile; the canalisation of the Mosel itself thence to
Jouy-aux-Arches, 3·38 miles long, where a movable weir maintains the
water-level in this reach; and a main canal thence to Metz on the right
bank of the river, 5·55 miles long. The branch canals are comparatively
independent of the above. One of them is situated on the left bank at
Ars, and consists of a rectification of a side channel of the river,
2·54 miles long, intended solely for the use of the iron foundries
of that town; a feeder of this, being on low-lying ground, requires
special protective embankments. The other, 1258 yards long, connects
the main canal with a basin at the railway terminus at Metz. The
portion of the Mosel from the embouchure of the Ars branch canal down
to the island of Vaux is made into a navigable basin for the use of
the foundries, a movable weir at the latter place giving the necessary
increased depth of water.
_The Rhine and Danube Canal._—In 1834 an elaborate report was made
by C. T. Kleinschrod, of Munich, relative to the feasibility of
constructing a canal to connect the Rhine and the Danube.[71] The
proposal was to proceed from the Rhine by way of the Main as far as
Bamberg, and there commence a canal which should proceed by Nüremberg
to Keeheim, where it would effect a junction with the Danube. The total
length of the artificial waterway between these two points, Bamberg and
Keeheim, was stated at 23⅓ German miles. The writer of the pamphlet
made an elaborate estimate of the probable cost of the undertaking,
which had the support of the King of Bavaria, and it was demonstrated
that at that time, when there were hardly any railways in Germany, it
would be attended with a great economy of transport. Owing, however,
to the competition of railways, and the extent to which they soon
afterwards met the requirements of the country, the project was not
entirely successful. The canal was completed in 1844. It is 110 miles
long and 7 feet deep.
The Danube, which is practically navigable from the town of Regensburg,
281 miles westward of Vienna, and the Black Sea, is the chief important
waterway of Austria. Communication is obtained with Prussia by the
Danube-Oder canal, and it is now proposed to establish a communication
between this canal and the Elbe, in which case, traffic could be
carried from Vienna to Hamburg by water all the way. It has been
suggested to have communication made between the Danube and the Rhine
either by Dilligen, 31 miles below Ulm, _viâ_ Königsbronn, 1640 feet
above sea-level, to the Neckar, and from Cannstadt to Mannheim, and
alternatively by Kehlheim, Nuremburg, and Bamberg, an ascent of 1375
feet to the Main, whence Mayence would be reached _viâ_ Frankfort.
_The Oder and the Elbe Canal._—At an early period in the history
of European trade, the desirability of having the Oder and the Elbe
connected by an artificial waterway was discussed. This was even more
of a desideratum about a century and a half ago than it is to-day. At
that time, Stettin, which is built on the west side of the Oder, about
46 miles from its mouth, was perhaps the leading commercial city in
Germany, having a large trade with England, France, and other countries
on the west, with Scandinavia, and with the Baltic countries. The
importance of joining such a port with Berlin, Hamburg, Dresden, and
with other cities either upon or near to the Elbe, was manifest.
The first canal built for this purpose was that of Plaven, completed in
1745. This canal joined the Havel with the Elbe at Parcy. It is about
twenty English miles in length, 40 to 50 feet in width, and has three
sluices. It reduces by more than one half the length of the navigation
between the Oder and the Elbe. About the same time the canal of Finow
was constructed to connect the same rivers by the Finow and the Havel.
There are thirteen sluices on this canal. Another canal, called the
Frederick William, joins the Oder and the Spree above Frankfort, and,
uniting with the Havel near Brandenburg, connects the latter with the
Elbe. It is fifteen English miles long, and has ten sluices.
_The Holstein Canal_ was begun in 1777, and was completed on the 4th
of May, 1785, but was opened in 1784. The cost of the undertaking was
2,512,432 rix dollars. There are six sluices, which cost 70,000 rix
dollars each. This canal, on the side of the Baltic, commences about
three English miles north of Kiel, at a place called Holtenau, where
there is a sluice, another at Knoop, and a third at Rathmansdorf, till
it comes to the Flemhude Lake, which is the highest point; and from
this lake, on the side of Rendsburg, there are three other sluices—one
at Königsford, another at Kluvensiek, and the last at Rendsburg. These
are on what is called the Upper Eyder, and the Lower Eyder is from
Rendsburg to its mouth, running by Tonningen, below which place it
falls into the sea between Eyderstadt and Dithmarschen. The distance is
about 100 English miles, and vessels must either sail or tide it, or
both; whilst from Rendsburg to Holtenau, nearly at the mouth of Kiel
Bay, upon the Baltic, it is only about 25 English miles, which can be
navigated in all weathers, except during a strong frost, as horses can
be had, if required, at fixed rates. The vessels are let through a
sluice in little more than eight or ten minutes each. For each sluice
they pay only 4 schillings Danish, or about so many pence English. The
surface breadth of this canal is 100 feet, and at the bottom 54 feet
Danish measure, and the depth is at least 10 feet throughout. Vessels
can pass through the sluices 100 feet in length, 26 feet in breadth,
and 9 feet 4 inches draught of water, Danish measure, and which, for
the regulation of the British merchant and shipowner, as well as the
master, it may be observed, corresponds in English measure to vessels
of 95 feet 4 inches length; 24 feet 9 inches breadth; and 9 feet depth.
An increase and improvement of the waterways of Germany is looked
upon as a pressing present necessity by many, and provision has been
made for the commencement of three great canals—the connection of
the Baltic with the North Sea, of the Spree with the Oder, and of the
Ems with the Rhine. The first mentioned is to be built chiefly from
military considerations, so that the German ironclads can get from Kiel
to the Atlantic. The two others are to be constructed for commercial
purposes. In connection with these there will also be canals built from
the Rhine to the Elbe, and from the Oder to the Silesian Mountains.
The agricultural interest very strongly opposed the Spree-Oder and
Ems-Rhine Canal, because they feared the foreign grain would be more
plentifully brought into the empire thereby, but their opposition was
not successful.
Besides these works the river Weser is being deepened, and a new
channel has been constructed between Bremen and the sea—a distance of
about 50 miles.
_The North Sea and Baltic Ship Canal._—This new ship canal is to be
international as well as national in its character. It will reduce
the sea passage, as compared to the Sound route, by 237 sea miles,
shorten the journey of sailing vessels by at least three days, and that
of steamers by about twenty-two hours in normal weather, and these
advantages are to cost the shipowners 9_d._ per registered ton when
the canal is navigable. About 35,000 vessels pass through the Sound
annually. It is, moreover, intended to strengthen the offensive and
defensive power of Germany. It may, however, be remarked that Count
Moltke never from the first gave the plan his cordial support from a
strategical point of view, maintaining then, as now, that the money
which the canal is to cost would have been more judiciously spent if
employed to strengthen the national navy.
The Baltic Ship Canal begins at Holtenau, a small village just north
of the royal dockyard of Kiel, on the Baltic, and enters the Elbe
15 miles above the North Sea, near Brunsbütte. It will have a total
length of 75 to 80 kilometres, as seen on the sketch-map at page 125.
Its width is to be, on the water surface, 60 metres; on the bottom,
26 metres; its depth is to be 8½ metres, and its total cost 156
million marks, as estimated. The canal may be looked upon as a mere
cutting, in which the water-level is to be that of the Baltic Sea,
and there will only be flood-gates or sluices where it enters the
river Eider and at its termination in the Elbe; these will be, as a
matter of fact, open all the year round. For the convenience of the
Royal Marine, rather extensive works will be carried out at the Elbe
embouchure, consisting of large and small locks, and eventually a
floating basin for at least four large armour-clads, besides coaling
stations at either end of the canal. The four railways crossing the
canal, as well as the two main post roads, will be carried over it by
means of iron swing-bridges; and steam and manual pontoons will serve
for the other various crossing-points of the canal. There are no
engineering difficulties to contend with, excepting perhaps a boggy
portion not very remote from the Elbe. The highest point of cutting
is about 24 kilometres distant from the Elbe, and here it will be
30 metres distant from the bottom level of the canal, otherwise the
ground to be removed is mostly sand or sandy loam.
This canal will unite the Gulf of Kiel with the mouth of the Elbe, and
will run by way of Rendsburg to a point midway between Brunsbüttel and
St. Margarethen, a few miles below Hamburg. It will, when completed,
be 61 miles long, 196 feet broad at the water level, 85 feet broad at
the bottom, and 28 feet deep, and it will have but two locks—one at
each end. The canal will take in the largest warship that has been or
will be constructed in Germany, and will, moreover, take her at all
states of the tide and in less than eight hours it will be possible
for her to proceed by it from Kiel to the Elbe, or _vice versâ_. The
canal, therefore, will enable Germany to regard with some degree of
indifference the possession of the mouths of the Baltic. She will
always have her own entrance into that sea, and will be in a position
at very short notice either to reinforce her squadrons there with ships
from the North Sea, or to draw ships thence to reinforce Kiel and the
Elbe. It is proposed to supplement this strategical waterway by means
of a further canal, which shall traverse Hanover from Neuhaus, on
the Elbe, opposite Brunsbüttel, to Bremerhaven, at the mouth of the
Weser. It will then be possible for the whole voyage between Kiel and
Wilhelmshaven to be performed in what are practically inland waters.
This last section of canal is, indeed, necessary for the thorough
completion of the scheme of coast defence; for the position of Great
Britain at Heligoland renders a blockade by her of the mouths of the
Elbe and Weser comparatively easy, unless provision be made for the
safe concentration at will, either at Brunsbüttel or at Wilhelmshaven,
of a fairly formidable fleet.
The Eyder, which divides Schleswig from Holstein, flows through
territory to be regarded as permanently German into the North Sea
at Tönning. From Rendsburg, to which place the Eyder is navigable, the
Eyder or Schleswig-Holstein canal was dug towards the close of the last
century to Kiel Bay, on the Baltic. It is from 10 to 11 feet deep, and
has locks. Vessels, though of no great burden, can thus at present pass
from the one sea to the other. As soon as Prussia occupied the Danish
Duchies, proposals were entertained by it for an increase of the depth
and width of this canal. Its maintenance, as it is necessitates a large
expenditure on dykes, and the contemplated improvements, of which
the charge would fall wholly or mainly on Prussia, must inevitably
be exceedingly costly. When they were fully carried out, they might
not answer the commercial needs of the chief centres of German trade,
and might even divert custom from them. Hamburg wants a canal nearer
to its end of the peninsula. It will be likely to attain its wish by
the measure which has now been sanctioned by the Imperial Parliament.
By this scheme the two German seas will be united at points most
convenient for the accommodation of the entire Empire.
In addition to the Eyder Canal, a second but more indirect water
communication between the Baltic and North Seas has existed for five
hundred years in the Steckenitz Canal, by which the Hanse city of
Lübeck connected the Steckenitz and Delvenau with the Elbe. But this is
not the route which wins engineering or political favour. The line most
strongly supported is from Kiel, south-westwards to Brunsbüttel, at the
mouth of the Elbe, opposite Cuxhaven. It would satisfy the demands of
Hamburg, which, though it seems to be jealous of Altona, practically
embraces within the limits of its port the whole Elbe estuary. Kiel
has a rising commerce which is likely to be greatly expanded by the
undertaking. In the eyes of German statesmen, the plan has commended
itself as giving the principal war harbour of the Empire an independent
outlet to the North Sea. The Northern Powers might, as things now
are, if hostile, seal up the German Navy in the Baltic. They hold the
keys, and could convert the sea into a lake. Whatever the German naval
strength at Bremerhaven, on the Elbe, and at Kiel, it could be cut in
half, and prevented from co-operating at the discretion of Scandinavia.
This is, as we have seen, a reason of the highest State for undertaking
the new waterway. German ships, unprovided with a waterway between the
German Ocean and the Baltic, have been exposed to extraordinary risks.
This fact alone is, in the eyes of Germany, a sufficient reason for
such an enterprise. But there are also the equally cogent reasons of
trade, and the preservation of shipping and human life.
[Illustration: MAP SHOWING THE ROUTE OF THE NORTH SEA AND BALTIC
CANAL.]
The Kattegat and Skager Rack are computed to cost Germany a yearly
loss of five hundred lives by wreck, and half a million sterling. The
pecuniary damage through the trade which is turned back, and does not
dare to defy the peril, must be much more considerable. Germany at
large has finally to defray the major part of these charges, positive
and negative. The saving of them is likely to yield very ample interest
on the seven or eight millions to be spent. Venerable Lübeck would
alone have cause to murmur at a work which threatens it with more
grievous competition than even now it has to meet from the competition
of Kiel for the Baltic trade. A writer in the _Times_ has, however,
pointed out that Lübeck, though it has fallen behind in the race with
Hamburg, has its own intrinsic sources of prosperity, and is not likely
to let them slip. The one real drawback to the attractions of the
project is the unaccommodating character of a North German winter. Ice,
which seriously obstructs the navigation of the tidal rivers, would
be harsher still to the sluggish surface of a fresh-water canal in
Holstein.
The North Sea and Baltic Canal will be of the following
dimensions:—Breadth at surface 200 feet; at bottom 85 feet. Depth 27
feet 10 inches.
This size will allow the heaviest ships in the German navy to make
use of the waterway, and it is estimated that 18,000 ships out of the
35,000 that annually pass the Sound, will use the canal, which will
shorten the distance between the Baltic and London by 22 hours; Hull
by 15 hours; Hartlepool by 8 hours; Newcastle-on-Tyne by 6 hours; and
Leith by 4 hours. It is expected to affect the English coal trade with
Baltic ports, by giving readier access to German coal ports, and in
addition to saving time in transit, it will relieve vessels from the
danger of doubling the Skaw. The work is likely to be completed in 1893
or 1894.
The cost of the canal is estimated at between seven and eight millions
sterling, of which 2½ millions are to be provided by Prussia.
It is the inevitable result of every new addition to the transportation
facilities of a country to benefit more or less some places at
the expense of others. The North Sea Canal is likely to prove
disadvantageous, as we have seen, to the ancient city of Lübeck, in
consequence of a diversion of its traffic. To meet this drawback, it has
been proposed to construct a new canal through Holstein, connecting the
Trave with the Elbe. Negotiations have been carried on between Lübeck
and Prussia, with this end in view. The canal would be 72 kilometres in
length, and is estimated to cost 18 millions of marks (900,000_l._).
With this canal, Lübeck is expected to retain its considerable trade
with North-eastern Europe.
_The Rhine-Ems Canal._—The proposed Rhine-Ems Canal is expected, by
bringing the Rhine and the Ems into more direct connection with the
Westphalian coalfield, to bring German into very close competition
with English coal at the North Sea and Baltic ports. The plan is a
very old one, and was resuscitated some thirty years ago, but nothing
came of the project till three sessions ago, when the Chambers voted
a large sum to carry it out under Government, provided the interested
country districts through which the canal was to pass, beginning at
Dortmund, would acquire the requisite land through which the canal was
to be cut, and hand it over for the common good. The money has been
coming in since by driblets, slowly and reluctantly, from one township
and the other, but at last it seems probable that it will ultimately
be subscribed, and for this eventuality English coalowners must be
prepared. A glance at a map will show that from Dortmund to Emden, and
thence through the North Sea and Baltic Canal, a direct route to the
East seaports will be opened up; and as the Westphalian coal can then
be placed at Emden at the same price as the English at one of the east
coast shipping ports, and the distance from Emden to the Baltic by the
new ship canal is twenty-three hours less than from Hull, twenty-seven
from Hartlepool, thirty from Newcastle, and thirty-six from Leith, it
is evident that a sharper rivalry may be established. If the ship canal
be not used, the difference in time between Emden and the Baltic will
be less by thirty-eight hours from Hull, thirty-six from Newcastle,
thirty-five from Hartlepool, and forty from Leith. No steps have yet
been taken with regard to the continuation of the canal from Dortmund
to the Rhine, which would then open up a new and shorter waterway from
South Germany and Switzerland to the Baltic.
_The Dortmund and Emden Canal_ is designed to develop the communication
between the Westphalian coalfield and the harbour at the mouth of the
Ems, and comprises (1) the completion of the canal direct from the
collieries, and joining the Ems at Papenburg, and (2) the improvement
of the navigation at Emden harbour. The canal follows, at the outset,
the Emscher valley to Henrichenburg, whence it is intended to construct
a branch of about 5 miles to the Rhine; the length of this section
being about 9¼ miles, with a fall of about 45·3 feet. The section of
38 miles past Münster, is unbroken by locks, but falls of 50 feet to
Bevergern, whence the previously existing Haulken Canal is followed
as far as Meppen. The fall from Bevergern to Papenburg is 130·9 feet:
and the distance 68 miles; the total fall from Dortmund to Emden being
226·2 feet, with twenty-six locks.
From Papenburg the Ems is navigable for the largest barges; but at
Oldersum, about 6 miles from the mouth of the river, the channel
becomes exposed to northerly storms, and from this point, therefore, a
new cut, closed from the river by a lock, joins the new harbour, which,
however, is yet unfinished, and is capable of considerable extension.
The dimensions of the work are:—
_Canal._ │ _Locks._
ft. in. │ ft. in.
Width of bed 52 0 │ Length 220 0
” at water level 78 0 │ Clear width of gates 28 3
Depth 6 6 │ Depth on sill 8 3
SECTIONS AND DETAILS OF COST OF THE DORTMUND AND
EMDEN CANAL.
───────────────────────────┬──────┬─────────────────┬────────────────
│ │ │ Total Cost
│Length│ Cost of Works. │ (including
Section. │ in │ │ land).
│Miles.├───────┬─────────┼──────┬─────────
│ │ Per │ Total. │ Per │ Total.
│ │ Mile. │ │ Mile.│
───────────────────────────┼──────┼───────┼─────────┼──────┼─────────
│ │ £ │ £ │ £ │ £
Dortmund to Henrichenburg │ 9¼ │ 26,082│ 243,000│34,373│ 320,500
│ │ │ │ │
Branch to Herne (5 miles) │ .. │ 17,468│ 84,500│21,574│ 104,500
│ │ │ │ │
Henrichenburg to Bevergern │ 59½ │ 18,354│1,092,500│20,608│1,228,500
│ │ .. │ 37,500│ .. │ 37,500
│ │ │ │ │
Bevergern to Papenburg │ 68 │ 14,973│1,019,500│15,939│1,093,000
│ │ │ │ │
River (Ems) from Papenburg │ │ │ │ │
to Oldersum │ 19½ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │
Eldersum to Emden │ 5¾ │ 25,760│ 147,000│28,738│ 164,000
│ │ │ │ │
Emden Harbour │ ¾ │ .. │ 295,000│ .. │ 295,000
├──────┼───────┼─────────┼──────┼─────────
Total distance, Dortmund │ │ │ │ │
to Emden Harbour │ 162¾ │ .. │2,919,000│ .. │3,233,000
───────────────────────────┴──────┴───────┴─────────┴──────┴─────────
The aqueducts, by which the canal is carried over the Lippe and Stever
valleys, having also a depth of 8 feet 3 inches, the canal can at any
time be dredged to this depth throughout. The navigation can be worked
by steam-power, and when the harbour is completed, so that the coal
can be brought direct from the collieries, the freight charges will
probably be reduced to 2_s._ 3_d._ or 2_s._ 6_d._ per ton, as against
3_s._ 6_d._, the lowest now charged. The preceding table is a statement
of the details of this undertaking.
_Scheldt and Rhine Canal._—For a considerable time past, a canal has
been in course of construction between the Scheldt and the Rhine. The
undertaking has been jointly promoted by Holland, Belgium, and Germany.
The two former countries are said to have completed their part of the
new waterway, but the German section of the work has been allowed
to stagnate for lack of support, and in 1887 the Frankfort Chamber
of Commerce applied to the German Government for assistance, with a
view to its completion. At the present time, the Rhine is one of the
most important waterways in Europe in reference to the extent of its
traffic. The port of Rotterdam is, however, the only one open by this
route, while the new canal would give access to the magnificent port
of Antwerp, whence cheaper freights are obtained to North America than
from any other European port.
_Oder and Upper Spree Navigation._—The old Friedrich-Wilhelm Canal,
constructed over two hundred years since, was till recently the only
means of water communication through this district; but the dimensions
of the channel, as well as the locks, were too small for present
requirements, and in preference to reconstructing the whole work,
it was decided to cut another channel, joining the Oder a few miles
further from Frankfurt. The country traversed is easier than in the
case of the Ems, and as the Oder does not take such large vessels as
the Ems, the dimensions of the canal are smaller; the limit being for
400 ton barges:—
_Canal._ │ _Locks._
ft. in. │ ft. in.
Width of bed 46 0 │ Length 180 0
” at water level 76 0 │ Clear width of gates 28 3
Depth 6 6 │ Depth of sill 8 3
The total length of this navigation is stated at 54½ miles, and the
cost is estimated at 11,592_l._ per mile.
It is now proposed to connect the North Sea at Hamburg with Vienna, and
thence, by the Danube, with the Black Sea and the Orient generally, by
a canal from Kosel to the Danube. The Prussian canal system now allows
of water transport all the way from Hamburg to Breig, whence the
canalisation of the Oder to Kosel, now being carried out, will be
completed in 1894. Prussia would continue the canal thence to the
Austrian frontier if it was completed to the Danube, 273 kilometres
further, by others, and efforts have recently been made to bring this
about.
This navigation improvement will bring the coalfields of Eastern
Silesia into direct communication with Berlin.
In 1885, a project was brought forward in Prussia for the construction
of a canal that would join the Rhine, the Ems, the Weser, and the Elbe.
The length of this waterway was estimated at 181¼ miles, the depth at
6 feet, 8 inches, and the width at 53 feet, 4 inches at the bottom,
and 80 feet on the water-line. The canal is intended to accommodate
vessels not exceeding 500 tons burden. The outlay proposed for this and
collateral canals was estimated at 4,050,000_l_.
TRAFFIC ON GERMAN WATERWAYS.
The quantity of traffic carried on the waterways of Germany has been
calculated at 11,797,000 tons, of which North Germany furnished
11,249,000 tons, and Southern Germany 548,000 tons.[72]
This, however, does not include the Rhine and the Main, which would
raise the figures for North Germany to about 16½ millions of tons,
while other waterways in Southern Germany bring up the traffic in that
division of the empire to about three millions of tons, being a total
for both divisions of about twenty millions of tons in round figures,
or approximately the same traffic as the waterways of France in the
same year.
Dealing only with those waterways of Germany, in which the
transportation of traffic is regularly carried on, and disregarding
the streams or canals that are practically unused for this purpose,
it appears that the total length of internal navigation in Germany
is about 3384 miles,[73] but it is important to remark that about 18
millions of the 20 millions of tons of traffic carried annually on
these waterways make use of only 2360 miles, or 69 per cent. of the
whole, leaving a million and a half to two millions of tons for the
remaining 31 per cent.
The latest returns at command appear to show that the waterways of
Germany were used by 17,885 sailing ships, of a total tonnage of
1,625,000 tons, or an average of 90 tons each; and by 830 steam ships,
of a total tonnage of about 33,000, being an average of 53 tons per
vessel.
The total number of vessels employed in carrying merchandise, on the
waterways of Germany, in the form of tugs, kedges, and steamers, in
addition to the above, is given as 483, having an indicated horse-power
per boat varying from an average of 280 on the Rhine to one of only 53
on the Oder.
It is clear from these returns that the waterways of Germany employ
a large number of very small craft. It is equally clear that under
these circumstances, the cost of transport cannot be so cheap as it
otherwise would be. If the average tonnage of all the vessels employed
under steam is only 53 tons, there must be a number of very small craft
indeed employed on the other waterways, in order to make up for the
considerably larger average of the vessels employed on the Rhine.
In Germany, as in France and Belgium, it is chiefly traffic of the
heavy kind that makes use of the waterways. About 28 per cent. of
the total traffic carried on the canals and rivers of the Empire
takes the form of coal and coke. On the Rhine, almost one-half of the
total traffic carried is mineral, but on the Elbe, mineral traffic
only constitutes 18 per cent. of the whole. But on this, and the
other waterways as well, timber, stone, clay, and lime, are carried
in considerable quantities, as well as vegetables and leguminous
plants.[74] It is estimated that eight millions of tons of traffic in
Germany use both waterways and railways, and on the Rhine alone over
five millions of tons are carried in this way.
The average traffic carried per mile on the Rhine is not less than 7400
tons. On the 2484 miles of waterways that are regularly navigated in
Germany, the density of traffic is about 7200 tons per mile. On the
railways of Germany, however, the density of goods traffic only amounts
to about 4864 tons per mile. The French waterways have a density
of 7246 tons per mile, as against a density of 4500 tons on their
railways. It is impossible to speak of the density of the traffic on
English waterways, inasmuch as no regular returns are collected of the
canal business of Great Britain; but as the canals have for the most
part been allowed to get very much out of repair, it is safe to assume
that the existing water transport will not compare favourably with the
traffic carried by railway.
An interesting statement has recently been compiled, showing the
quantities of traffic carried on the railways and waterways of Germany,
to and from the principal centres of population. It appears from this
return that the total quantity of traffic carried by water to and from
Berlin, Hamburg, Magdeburg, Mannheim, and one or two other cities
of importance, compares not unfavourably with rail transport. The
particulars are given in the table on the following page.
It is the practice in Germany for the Government to maintain the inland
navigations, charging only 6_s._ for lockage. This allows of very cheap
transport—so much so, indeed, that it is stated that between Hamburg
and Berlin, notwithstanding that the railway rates are extremely low,
all heavy traffic is carried by barges or steamers.
On the fourteen principal waterways in Germany, including the Oder,
the Spree, the Elbe, the Rhine, and the chief canals, the 17½ million
tons of traffic carried in 1887 was transported in 132,863 boats that
were full and 35,989 boats that were not full. The average tonnage
carried on the same waterways between 1881 and 1885 was 14,318,000
tons. As compared with the vessels employed, and the tonnage carried,
in preceding years, there was an advance of 15·4 per cent. in the
number of the boats, and of 22·7 per cent. in the amount of traffic
carried.
TRAFFIC ON THE RAILWAYS AND WATERWAYS OF GERMANY.
────────────────┬─────────┬─────────────────────────────┬──────────
│ Number │ Tons of Goods Carried. │ Number of
Cities. │ of ├─────────┬─────────┬─────────┤ Tons per
│ Inhabi- │ By │ By │ Total. │ Head of
│ tants.│ Rail. │ Water. │ │ Population
────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼──────────
│ │ │ │ │
Berlin │1,200,000│3,504,000│3,348,000│6,852,000│ 5·71
│ │ │ │ │
Breslau │ 270,000│1,237,000│ 350,000│1,587,000│ 5·88
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ [75]│ │
Hamburg │ 410,000│1,191,000│3,221,000│4,442,000│ 10·7
│ │ │ │ │
Magdeburg │ │ │ │ │
(including │ │ │ │ │
Buckau and │ 165,000│1,650,000│1,118,000│2,768,000│ 16·7
Neustadt) │ │ │ │ │
│ │ [76]│ │ │
Dresden │ 220,000│1,411,000│ 534,000│1,945,000│ 8·8
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ [77]│ │
Bremen │ 112,000│ 776,000│ 184,000│ 960,000│ 8·5
│ │ │ │ │
Ports of │ │ │ │ │
Rhine— │ │ │ │ │
(Rhurort, │ │ │ │ │
Duisburg, │ 70,000│5,427,000│4,107,000│9,554,000│ 136·0
and Hochfeld) │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │
Cologne │ │ │ │ │
(including │ 160,000│1,132,000│ 314,000│1,634,000│ 10·0
Deutz) │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │
Mannheim and │ │ │ │ │
Ludwigshafen │ 75,000│1,776,000│2,041,000│3,817,000│ 50·0
────────────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴──────────
In the year 1878 it was announced that over 1045 miles of new canal
navigation had been ordered throughout Germany, in addition to the 1289
miles then open, and the 4925 miles of navigable rivers available.[78]
This fact sufficiently indicates the great importance that is attached
in Germany to adequate water communication, and it is all the more
notable that very few countries are possessed of equally cheap railway
transport.
FOOTNOTES:
[71] Those who are interested in perusing this Report will find
it contained in a volume of pamphlets in the Library of the Royal
Statistical Society.
[72] The different river basins contributed the following
proportions:—
Basins. Tons.
The Elbe 7,767,000
The Vistula, Niemen, &c. 2,227,000
The Oder 861,000
The Weser and Ems 394,000
Lake of Constance 338,000
The Danube 210,000
──────────
Total 11,797,000
[73] The distribution of this navigation is as follows, according to
basins:—
Basin. Miles of Navigation.
The Rhine 931
The Elbe 870
The Oder 497
The Weser 280
The Danube 248
The Ems 196
Other waterways 372
————
Total 3384
[74] On the railways of Germany in 1886 coal traffic was 48·5 per
cent. of the whole; timber, 5·8 per cent.; stone, 7·5 per cent.;
and grain 6·2 per cent. About 84·7 per cent. of the whole was heavy
traffic. The total railway traffic was about 5½ times that of the
total water traffic of the empire.
[75] Not including sea tonnage.
[76] Exclusive of arrivals and departures by rail from Dresden and
Breslau.
[77] Exclusive of arrivals and departures by rail from Dresden and
Breslau.
[78] Report of Messrs. Meyer and Werneigh.