Lock #5 - Moscow Canal - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

The Moscow Canal, a 128 kilometer waterway is a very impressive hydro-technical enterprise. It was constructed over a four year, eight month period, between 1932 and 1937, using slave labor from the Stalin era Gulags. Most of the excavation was done by hand with shovels, pickaxes in winter and wheelbarrows. Only in recent years has the human cost of this massive engineering project become known.

Between the Northern River Port in Moscow and the Volga River there are six locks which raise/lower vessels a total of 125 feet. The locks are numbered from downstream to upstream and this one, #5,is located about 31 miles from the city, 2 miles downstream from #6. All of the locks are 951 feet long by 98 feet wide and they can hold several vessels at the same time. Lock #5 raises/lowers vessels approximately 26 feet (8 meters).

All of the locks have a downstream gate which swings open or shut and an upstream barrier which rises or lowers vertically. At each end of all of the locks there are large towers which house the lock machinery. The Towers at Lock #5 are decorated with granite columns, balconies and iron grill work in a Mediterranean style.

Waterway Name: Moscow Canal Connected Points: Links the Moscow River and the city of Moscow with the Volga River at Dubna. Type: Lock Date Opened: 07/15/1937 Elevation Difference (meters): 8.00 Site Status: Operational Web Site: [Web Link] Date Closed (if applicable): Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   01/08/2008 NevaP visited it

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