The locks at Antskog and Koski
Antskogin ja Koskin sulut

These locks are the oldest in Finland that are documented and some facts still are saved. It was the worksmanager Johan Jacob Julin that built them. He was responsible for the refining of coppar from the Orijärvi mine. It was very difficult to get the ore from the mine to the works at Koski and Antskog during wintertime when there often were lots of snow.
Julin planned to transport the ore on water during summers. He decided to build a waterway from Orijärvi to Antskog. The Antskog river flows to Pojoviken in The Gulf of Finland and passes several small lakes.
There are only a few documents left about the building works, but the lock was evidently ready for use in 1824. It was built by Anders Lax. At the same time a canal without locks were built on the same route.
A couple of years later Julin started dredging the waterway to Koski foundry. A 900 feet long, 16 feet wide and 3 feet deep canal was planned. The dredgings were probably started at the same time as the works on a lock downstreams the damm. This was in May 1827.
The lock was almost completed during 1827 but a timberbottom was built in 1928. The damm upstreams the lock was teared down and a new damm built adjacent to the lock. The traffic through the lock seems to have strated in 1828, but the river was dredged in 1829 too.
The Koski lock was 15,74 feet long. 2,97 wide at the top gate and 2,52 wide at the bottom gate. The elevation probably 0,9 meter. The dimensions of the Antskog lock are not known, but they were probably the same as the Koski lock.
The locks were mainly built of stone, but hard soil was also used. The walls were of timber.

The importance of these locks and canals were immense. Freightrates fell 50 per cent!
The importance of the Antskog lock fell in the 1830:ies when refining af coppar ore was concentrated to Koski. But the lock remained intact and was used until 1908 when it was teared down.

The traffic through Koski lock was heavy. When the orefreights decreased and ceased by the end of the 19th century these freights were replaced by other transports. The lock was renovated in 1906 to 1907 and in 1930. But after that roadtransports increased and the traffic through the lock ceased completely.
The lock was demolished by a big flood in spring 1968. It was never repaired.

Julin planned two further canals on the same route, but they were never built, due to high costs.
In 1937 Julin founded Finland's the first machineworks at Fiskars. Here the gates and rolling bridges for Saima canal were made. All ironparts for the Murole, Vianto and Kajaani canals were manufactured here too.

The National Museum Authority plans to restore the lockk at Antskog.

Tarmo Hurskainen © 2005



Pictures of the Antskog lock

Information with old picture by the lock.

The lock view upstreams from west.

Information with old picture by the lock.

The remnants of the lock, viewed upstreams from west.
Here is now a regulating gate.

The lock from upstreams.

The lock seen from east downstreams.

Text on a rock by the canal:

The place of the old lock from upstreams.

The place of the old lock seen from east downstreams.

Text on a rock by the canal: "FINLANDS FÖRSTA SLUSS. J.J. JULIN 1824" First lock in Finland. J.J. Julin 1824


© Pictures by Torsti Salonen

Source: Turkka Myllykylä, Suomen kanavien historia. Otava 1991.
Do send comments or further information to Bosse Arnholm

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