Laitaatsalmen and Aholahden canals
Laitaatsalmen kanava, Aholahden kanava
The deep commercial fairway in Saima passes the narrow Kyrönsalmi sound in the center of Nyslott. By this sound is the old Olofsborg castle on an island. This castle is known for it's annual Opera Festival. The castle is reached via a swingbridge over the fairway.
The sound is difficult for ships as the stream is between 0,6 and 0,8 m/s and they have to turn at places. There has been accidents here.
The Finnish Maritime Administration plans to build a new deep fairway for commercial traffic here. There are two alternatives.
One alternative is to enlarge Laitaatsalmi sound west of Kyrönsalmi sound. This sound must be dredged and widened. To make it possible for all ships to pass two new bridges must be built, on for roadtraffic and one for the railroad. Both these bridges must be possible to oper for ships, as it is not possbile to built them high enough.
The other alternative is to dig a two liometer long canal without locks west of Laitaatsalmi sound. This canal is planned to be between 30 and 45 meters wide. Here it is possibble to built bridges with a free sailing heights of 24,5 meter for roads traffic as well as railroads and a öppningsbar bridge for local traffic.
Tarmo Hurskainen © 2007
Source: Finnish Maritime Administration, 2007
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