The gates which admit the water into the new canal which is to connect
the Baltic with the North Sea have been recently opened by the Emperor
William. This canal is being constructed by the German government
principally for the purpose of strengthening the naval resources of
Germany, by giving safer and more direct communication for the ships
of the navy to the North German ports. The depth of water will be
sufficient for the largest ships of the German navy. The canal will
also prove of very great advantage to the numerous timber and other
vessels trading between St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Dantzic, Riga, and
all the North German ports in the Baltic and this country. The passage
by the Kattegat and Skager Rack is exceedingly intricate and very
dangerous, the yearly loss of shipping being estimated at half a
million of money. In addition to the avoidance of this dangerous
course, the saving in distance will be very considerable. Thus, for
vessels trading to the Thames the saving will be 250 miles, for those
going to Lynn or Boston 220, to Hull 200, to Newcastle or Leith 100.
This means a saving of three days for a sailing vessel going to Boston
docks, the port lying in the most direct line from the timber ports of
the Baltic to all the center of England. The direction of the canal is
shown by the thick line in the accompanying sketch map of the North
Sea and Baltic. Considering that between 30,000 and 40,000 ships now
pass through the Sound annually, the advantage to the Baltic trade is
very apparent.
[Illustration: THE NEW GERMAN SHIP CANAL.]
The new canal starts at Holtenau, on the north side of the Kiel Bay,
and joins the Elbe fifteen miles above the mouth. From Kiel Bay to
Rendsborg, at the junction with the Eider, the new canal follows the
Schleswig and Holstein Canal, which was made about one hundred years
ago, and is adapted for boats drawing about eight feet; thence it
follows the course of the Eider to near Willenbergen, when it leaves
that river and turns southward to join the Elbe at Brunsbuttel, about
forty miles below Hamburg. The canal is 61 miles long, 200 ft. wide at
the surface, and 85 ft. at the bottom, the depth of water being 28 ft.
The surface of the water in the two seas being level, no locks are
required; sluices or floodgates only being provided where it enters
the Eider and at its termination. The country being generally level
there are no engineering difficulties to contend with, except a boggy
portion near the Elbe; the ground to be removed is chiefly sandy loam.
Four railways cross the canal and two main roads, and these will be
carried across on swing bridges. The cost is estimated at £8,000,000.
About six thousand men are employed on the works, principally Italians
and Swiss.--_The Engineer._
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