Masurian Canal

The Masurian Canal (German: Masurischer Kanal, Polish: Kanał Mazurski, Russian: Канал Мазурский) is an unfinished 50.4 km long canal connecting the Lava River in Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia (a tributary of the Pregolya) and Lake Mamry, one of the Masurian Lakes in Poland.

Masurian Canal
Map of the Masurian Canal
Specifications
Locks	10
Status	abandoned unfinished
History
Principal engineer	August Hess
Other engineer(s)	Otto Intze
Construction began	1911 1918 1934
Geography
Start point	Łyna River
End point	Lake Mamry

Unfinished canal lock

The present-day Polish-Russian border cuts through the canal, with the southern section, about 20 km long, located in Poland, and the remainder in Russia. There are ten locks on the canal, five in each country, designed to handle boats up to 7.7 metres (25 ft) wide, 45 metres (148 ft) long, with a draught of 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in).

The canal's purpose was to spur the economic development of East Prussia. Construction began in 1911 but was interrupted by World War I, was resumed in the 1920s – since Russian trade ceased after the October Revolution – and again in the 1930s. The project was finally terminated by World War II, with no attempt to finish the canal afterwards.[1]

Masurian Canal
Łyna Rivers Allenburg I Allenburg II Groß Allendorf Wilhelmshof Georgenfelde Langenfeld Russian-Polish Border Klein Bajohren Sandhof Lower Fuerstenau Upper Fuerstenau Lake Mamry