Vyshny Volochyok (Tver Oblast)

Camera: Nikon F 80;

Lens: Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG (OS)* HSM | AF;

Film: KODAK Professional PRO IMAGE 100 Color;

Filter: No filter;

Exposure: as ISO 100;

Scanned: by Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400 by Dimage Scan

 

The Tsninsky Canal is a canal on the Tsna River in Vyshny Volochyok (Tver Oblast), part of the Vyshny Volochyok Waterway System (a waterway in Russia with a watershed near the town of Vyshny Volochyok, the oldest artificial waterway in Russia, linking the central part of the country and the Volga region with the new capital, St. Petersburg, and solving the food supply issue for St. Petersburg in the 18th and 19th centuries).

 

Soon after the construction of the Gagarin Canal, which connected the Volga and Baltic basins, weaknesses in the new system became apparent.

In 1719, a self-taught hydraulic engineer, Serdyukov, a Novgorod merchant of Mongolian descent, began work to improve the waterway. To bypass the winding branch of the swift Tsna, a 1,280-meter-long channel was dug in 1722 to straighten the river from southeast to northwest, named the Tsninsky Canal. A lock was constructed at its exit. During subsequent large-scale work on the water system in the 1810s, an additional half-lock was built on the canal 800 meters upstream from the previous lock. This helped maintain the water level and ensure safe passage of ships. At the same time, the canal walls were lined with granite, and its width became 10 fathoms. By the early 20th century, the canal's depth was 4-5 arshins. In the 1920s, when navigation ceased and the canal was used only for timber rafting, the locks were rebuilt into bayslots. The canal and its embankments are designated cultural heritage sites.

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