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.
Pages:
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60