Karl Johanslussen
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Karl Johanslussen ("Lock of Charles John
Charles XIV John of Sweden
Charles XIV & III John, also Carl John, Swedish and Norwegian: Karl Johan was King of Sweden and King of Norway from 1818 until his death...
") is a lock
Lock (water transport)
A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
and a sluice
Sluice
A sluice is a water channel that is controlled at its head by a gate . For example, a millrace is a sluice that channels water toward a water mill...
, connecting and controlling the flood discharge between Riddarfjärden
Riddarfjärden
Riddarfjärden, literally the Knight Firth, is a bay of Lake Mälaren in central Stockholm. Stockholm was founded in 1252 on an island in the stream where Lake Mälaren drains into the Baltic Sea . The island is today called Stadsholmen and constitutes Stockholm's Old Town...
, the easternmost part of Lake Mälaren
Mälaren
Lake Mälaren is the third-largest lake in Sweden, after Lakes Vänern and Vättern. Its area is 1,140 km² and its greatest depth is 64 m. Mälaren spans 120 kilometers from east to west...
, and Saltsjön
Saltsjön
Saltsjön is a bay of the Baltic Sea that extends from Stockholm archipelago to the inner city of Stockholm. Its innermost part reaches the eastern shore of Gamla stan at Skeppsbrokajen. It is navigable for large craft and the major ferry lines to and from Stockholm pass through it...
, the section of the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
reaching into central Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. The lock is 75 meters long, 10 meters wide and 3.90 meters deep. The maximum height is 3.8 meters.
Before World War I, few of the steam ships in the harbor of Stockholm were larger than 500 tonnes, and the previous lock thus largely sufficient. While commercial traffic was relocated to Hammarbyleden passing south of Södermalm
Södermalm
Södermalm, often shortened to "Söder", is a district in central Stockholm. It covers the large island formerly called "Åsön". With a population of 99,685, it is one of the most densely populated districts of Scandinavia...
in 1926-1929, the present lock, completed in 1935, was still used by some 3,000 commercial vessels in 1970s, and log rafts passed through the canal until the 1950s. Its main function is however to allow passage for pleasure boats and sightseeing boats.
Construction
Like the surrounding area SlussenSlussen
Slussen is an area of central Stockholm, connecting Södermalm and Gamla stan. The area is named after the locks between Lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The locks themselves allow passage between these two bodies of water...
, named after the lock and built simultaneous to it in 1930-1935, the lock is a concrete construction resting on franki piles (e.g. cast-in-situ piles) located along the sides of the canal and next to the gates. The base plate is made of reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
, reinforced with steel sleepers next to the gates. The walls of the canal are dressed in granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
reinforced with vertical iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
rebate
Rebate
Rebate can refer to:* Rebate or rabbet, a woodworking term for a groove* Film rebate, the term for the border around photographic film- Money :* Rebate , a type of sales promotion used in marketing* Tax rebate, a reduction in taxation demanded...
s stretching three meters from the bottom and horizontal anchoring irons. The two gates are sheeted with steel and lowered from the overhead road bridge, each of them operated with individual machinery hidden in the premises south of the canal. This sort of gates can be operated independent of water pressure, which makes additional aperture and culverts unnecessary for turning the lock.
History
- For historical images, see external links.
Rise of Sweden as a Great Power
During the 17th century, despite having scarcely more than 1 million inhabitants, Sweden emerged to have greater foreign influence, after winning wars against Denmark–Norway, The Holy Roman Empire, Russia, and The Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania...
, and as such its capital apparently needed a facelift. The eastern waterfront of the city was remolded into what was to become Skeppsbron
Skeppsbron
Skeppsbron is both a street and a quay in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, capital of Sweden, stretching from the bridge Strömbron in front of the Royal Palace southward to Slussen....
, the representative front of the city, and the western part, turned into ashes in the great fire of 1625, was reshaped in accordance to modern town planning. These changes necessarily had to affect the southern city gate and its watercourse; a large slaughterhouse was built on the eastern side of the passage in 1626, while two watermill
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
s with five systems of mill wheels each flanked the still undeveloped watercourse. Ships, still pulled by hand over the shallow passage, couldn't pass at all during some seasons and regularly ran ashore causing constant and expensive repairs, while the sheds and simple buildings next to it were often washed away by floods in spring and autumn.
Lock of Queen Christina
In 1634, works were begun to transform the two streams into a modern canal and construction works on the lock could finally start when the two oldest towers were demolished in 1637. Dutch craftsmen were brought in for the project led by two Dutch carpenters, called Adrian Dams and Lennart Hermanson. A pole-driver was used to dam up the watercourse during four months before the seabed was excavated and larger blocks were burnt into smaller pieces carried away by hand. Finally, in 1638 the dam was temporarily opened for the wooden box of the canal, towed in from the construction site on SkeppsholmenSkeppsholmen
Skeppsholmen is one of the islands of Stockholm. It is connected with Blasieholmen and Kastellholmen by bridges. Positioned strategically at the Baltic Sea entrance to Stockholm, it has traditionally been the location of several military buildings...
. The interior faces of the box was then dressed up in a block wall using stone imported from the Netherlands before the copper-dressed locks were completed. When completed in 1642, the Dutch were sent home and the lock was named Drottning Kristinas sluss ("Lock of Queen Christina") after Queen Christina
Christina of Sweden
Christina , later adopted the name Christina Alexandra, was Queen regnant of Swedes, Goths and Vandals, Grand Princess of Finland, and Duchess of Ingria, Estonia, Livonia and Karelia, from 1633 to 1654. She was the only surviving legitimate child of King Gustav II Adolph and his wife Maria Eleonora...
(1626–1689), about to come of age. In spite of the constant need of repair, the canal and its lock was an instant success, the city's earnings from customs increased sixfold, and as the loading an unloading of iron was relocated to the old moat in 1662, the area developed into one of most vital ports in Europe, after 1636 handling approximately two third of the Swedish export. German and Dutch merchants opened branch offices on the southern side in 1664, and Russian shops were built next to them in 1641 (the space is still called Ryssgården, "The Russian Yard"). A planned Swedish trade house, started by Nicodemus Tessin the Elder
Nicodemus Tessin the Elder
Nicodemus Tessin the Elder was an important Swedish architect.-Biography:Nicodemus Tessin was born in Stralsund in Pomerania and came to Sweden as a young man. There he met and worked with the architect Simon de la Vallée...
, half-finished and struck by fire in 1680, was finally completed to the plans of Nicodemus Tessin the Younger
Nicodemus Tessin the Younger
Count Nicodemus Tessin the Younger was a Swedish Baroque architect, city planner, and administrator.The son of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and the father of Carl Gustaf Tessin, Tessin the Younger was the middle-most generation of the brief Tessin dynasty, which have had a lasting influence on...
and called the "Southern Town Hall" (Södra Stadshuset), today housing the Stockholm City Museum
Stockholm City Museum
The Stockholm City Museum is a museum documenting and exhibiting the history of Stockholm. The museum is housed in Södra Stadshuset at Slussen on Södermalm. The building was completed in 1685...
. In 1698, Tessin the Younger added a second drawbridge to the area, demolishing most of the tower of Gustav Vasa and the moat in the process. The southern city gate had by this time transformed into the city's financial centre, defraying the many Baroque palaces built during the era, and into a major traffic junction, serving both an increasing number of ships, the citizens of Stockholm who increased from 9,000 to 47,000 people 1611-1675.
Lock of Polhem
Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII also Carl of Sweden, , Latinized to Carolus Rex, Turkish: Demirbaş Şarl, also known as Charles the Habitué was the King of the Swedish Empire from 1697 to 1718...
in 1718, and the defeat in the Great Northern War
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...
(1700–1721) the Swedish capital was a city in despair, preparing for a Russian attack and encamped by impoverished, refugees, and idle soldiers. The southern lock of the city was approaching a century in age, a bottleneck in a state of decay, inadequate for both the larger shipping vessels of the era and the increasing traffic load. While Göran Josuæ Adelcrantz (1668–1739), the pupil and successor of Tessin the Younger, was mostly occupied by the construction works of the new Royal Palace
Stockholm Palace
The Stockholm Palace is the official residence and major royal palace of the Swedish monarch. . Stockholm Palace is located on Stadsholmen , in Gamla Stan in the capital, Stockholm...
, in 1622 he accomplished an emergency repair of the old lock; workers wading between the temporary embankments filling cracks with clay, straw, and muck, while loose and missing planks were put back in place. These measure not only ended much more expensive than intended but also proved completely insufficient, and as the decay had obviously made the old lock impossible to repair properly, Christopher Polhem
Christopher Polhem
Christopher Polhammar , better known as , which he took after his ennoblement, was a Swedish scientist, inventor and industrialist. He made significant contributions to the economic and industrial development of Sweden, particularly mining.-Biography:Polhem was born on the island of Gotland...
(1661–1751), "the father of Swedish mechanics", was consulted for a new construction. The proposal of Adelcrantz for a new construction, estimated to cost 32,741 riksdaler
Swedish riksdaler
The riksdaler was the name of a Swedish coin first minted in 1604. Between 1777 and 1873, it was the currency of Sweden. The daler, like the dollar, was named after the German Thaler. The similarly named Reichsthaler, rijksdaalder, and rigsdaler were used in Germany and Austria-Hungary, the...
in silver coin
Silver coin
Silver coins are possibly the oldest mass produced form of coinage. Silver has been used as a coinage metal since the times of the Greeks. Their silver drachmas were popular trade coins....
s, was passed over by a suggested repair of the old lock by Johan Eberhard Carlberg (1683–1773) in 1726, limited in cost to 30,000 rikdaler while implying widening the canal from 6,5 to 8,2 meters, a proposal to the taste of the city's building board which subsequently had Adelcrantz replaced by Carlberg. The latter, however, was a daring man and he quickly produced a proposal for a new lock south of the old, a proposal which implied not only the demolition of the city's brewery, but also the discontinuation of the bar iron deposit next to the lock (the biggest in Europe, representing about 40% of the global market at the time). By 1728, however, the city had accepted the need for a new construction, and, as Carlberg was busy with other undertakings, finally assigned Polhem for the project in 1729. The proposal for a wooden construction he produced the following year didn't please the board which had anticipated a more lasting construction in stone, and as the whole affair failed to conclude, a contract wasn't signed until 1744. At the age of 93 years, only days before his death, Polhem was reward the knighthood of the Royal Order of the Polar Star
Order of the Polar Star
The Order of the Polar Star is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I of Sweden on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim....
, at the bottom of the lock. Finally inaugurated on May 2, 1755, Polhems sluss ("Lock of Polhem"), was 3,9 meters deep, 12,5 meters wide, and 59 meters long; in the western end overpassed by a drawbridge flanked by two brick towers on either side and therefore called Röda Slussen ("The Red Lock"). With the new lock the surrounding area changed considerably in character; on the square south of the lock a triangular block was built, named Strykjärnet ("The [Cloth] Iron"); several old wooden buildings were replaced by new in stone; and an eastern bridge was added over the canal named Blå Slussen ("The Blue Lock") after the blue hoisting device.
Lock of Nils Ericson
Göta Canal
The Göta Canal is a Swedish canal constructed in the early 19th century. It formed the backbone of a waterway stretching some 382 miles , linking a number of lakes and rivers to provide a route from Gothenburg on the west coast to Söderköping on the Baltic Sea via the river Göta älv and the...
, was commissioned to investigate a new bridge and eventually became the first person to propose a new seaway south of Södermalm
Södermalm
Södermalm, often shortened to "Söder", is a district in central Stockholm. It covers the large island formerly called "Åsön". With a population of 99,685, it is one of the most densely populated districts of Scandinavia...
, a suggestion however reject as to expensive, why he instead made a proposal for a new lock before he fell out with the building authorities and left the capital. Successive plans for a new bridge were first encouraged as His Majesty personally granted subsidies worth 20,000 riksdaler annually during a period of ten years starting from 1837, provided that the city allocated the same amount to cover the cost was estimated to 394,000 riksdaler, the plans then fell upon problems however, as a competition in 1841 awarding the winning proposal 200 ducat
Ducat
The ducat is a gold coin that was used as a trade coin throughout Europe before World War I. Its weight is 3.4909 grams of .986 gold, which is 0.1107 troy ounce, actual gold weight...
s produced no entries, and a new competition in 1843 awarding 500 ducats resulted in the same outcome. The savior appeared in 1845 when lieutenant colonel Nils Ericson
Nils Ericson
Friherre Nils Ericson was a Swedish mechanical engineer...
(1802–1870), who had worked for Baltzar von Platen at Göta Canal, delivered a proposal for which is was, except for the award, also given 2,000 riksdaler for a supplemental investigation. The new lock required to be 9,5 meters wide, 3,6 meters deep at low tide, while the distance between the gates should be made 45 meters. The cost was estimated to 422,000 riksdaler, and Ericson's recompense settled at 40,000 riksdaler to be paid once the sluice was completed.
In preparation for Nils Ericsons sluss ("Lock of Nils Ericson") he made detailed studies and minute calculations in 1845-1846. He concluded there were insufficient stonemasons in the Stockholm area, and therefore had limestone and granite brought in from other parts of Sweden, quarries Ericson knew well from his earlier projects. He constructed a circular saw turned inwards to cut the head each stock at equal level for the bottom of the caisson
Caisson (engineering)
In geotechnical engineering, a caisson is a retaining, watertight structure used, for example, to work on the foundations of a bridge pier, for the construction of a concrete dam, or for the repair of ships. These are constructed such that the water can be pumped out, keeping the working...
, an instrument which was, like virtually all heavy tasks during the project, hand operated by several men. Empty barrels were used as rafts. Ericson gave directions for all sorts of tasks, including dredging, securing the rabbet
Rabbet
A rabbet is a recess or groove cut into the edge of a piece of machineable material, usually wood. When viewed in cross-section, a rabbet is two-sided and open to the edge or end of the surface into which it is cut....
ing of planks, earth fillings, and determining the inclination of the caisson walls in order for them to withstand the pressure from the levee
Levee
A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...
s. He had to use an expensive steam dredger, but could avoid a machine for the drainage which saved a lot of money. He also made great efforts to make the extensive piling for the foundation
Deep foundation
A deep foundation is a type of foundation distinguished from shallow foundations by the depth they are embedded into the ground. There are many reasons a geotechnical engineer would recommend a deep foundation over a shallow foundation, but some of the common reasons are very large design loads, a...
more efficient; the drop forge of the pile driver
Pile driver
A pile driver is a mechanical device used to drive piles into soil to provide foundation support for buildings or other structures. The term is also used in reference to members of the construction crew that work with pile-driving rigs....
should hit the pile with a constant effect, why Ericson had the labourers lower the device as the pile sunk. The timbered caisson was built as a huge box on Djurgården, just north-east of the bridge Lilla Sjötullsbron
Lilla Sjötullsbron
Lilla Sjötullsbron is a concrete pedestrian bridge in central Stockholm, Sweden. Passing over Djurgårdsbrunnskanalen it connects Djurgården island to the mainland north of it....
, slightly more than 79 meters in length, 16,5 meters in width and 6,2 meters in height (266½×56×21 feet), subsequently towed into place before the ends were removed. The temporary drydock on Djurgården is still discernible as a depression in the landscape. The construction work on the caisson began in May 1847 with the construction of barracks for 60 men and a smithy. In the drydock keel blocks 3 inches (76.2 mm) tall were then placed and the bottom of the caisson was built upon them — a bed consisting of 3 inches (76.2 mm) deal
Softwood
The term softwood is used to describe wood from trees that are known as gymnosperms.Conifers are an example. It may also be used to describe trees, which tend to be evergreen, notable exceptions being bald cypress and the larches....
, 12 inches (304.8 mm) beam
Beam (structure)
A beam is a horizontal structural element that is capable of withstanding load primarily by resisting bending. The bending force induced into the material of the beam as a result of the external loads, own weight, span and external reactions to these loads is called a bending moment.- Overview...
s, and 1 1/4 inches of board
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
s. The caisson was completed in August, water was let in and the building berth and the barrage were removed. The floating was done in two hours 2-4 a.m., and its dimensions produced enthusiastic comparisons: "larger than the Stockholm Cathedral
Storkyrkan
Sankt Nikolai kyrka , most commonly known as Storkyrkan and Stockholms domkyrka , is the oldest church in Gamla Stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is an important example of Swedish Brick Gothic...
!", "...could house the entire Swedish Army and its paraphernalia
Paraphernalia
In modern usage, the word paraphernalia most commonly refers to apparatus, equipment, or furnishing used in or necessary for a particular activity as in, "Beth is such an avid sports fan that her walls are covered with baseball paraphernalia"....
."
Curb
Curb may refer to:* Curb , or kerb, the edge where a raised pavement/sidewalk/footpath, road median, or road shoulder meets an unraised street or other roadway.* Curb Records, a record label started by Mike Curb in 1973....
s and piles were removed from the seabed. Ericson concluded there never was an isthmus
Isthmus
An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas usually with waterforms on either side.Canals are often built through isthmuses where they may be particularly advantageous to create a shortcut for marine transportation...
connecting the two island, in opposition to later expertise who believe they were cut off around 1000 AD. 2,000 piles were driven into the seabed, one about every two meters, and a bed of grit
Grit
Grit may refer to:* GRIT , also known as Arhgap32 or PX-RICS* Grit , a U.S. periodical founded as a newspaper in 1882* Grit , by Celtic fusion musician Martyn Bennett* Grit , by Norwegian rock band Madrugada...
made up the leveled bed for the caisson. Since the caisson was fit into place the bricklaying of the bottom, sills, and lower parts of the walls began. The caisson was lowered with ballast of gravel and rock waste before water was pored in and the box sank into place — the fit was perfect and the box so tight the planned hiring of a steam engine to pump it dry could be cancelled. As the masonry with mortar
Mortar (masonry)
Mortar is a workable paste used to bind construction blocks together and fill the gaps between them. The blocks may be stone, brick, cinder blocks, etc. Mortar becomes hard when it sets, resulting in a rigid aggregate structure. Modern mortars are typically made from a mixture of sand, a binder...
begun in May 1849, the ballast was gradually removed. Limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
from Borgholm
Borgholm
Borgholm is a city and the seat of Borgholm Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 3,093 inhabitants in 2005. It is located on the island of Öland in the Baltic Sea....
was used up to 12 feet over the bottom, while granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
was cut locally for the upper part of the construction. Between the inner walls of the caisson and the stone walls, homogeneous, well-worked clay was used as a protection against frost and decay, while compressed sand was used outside the caisson. The entire construction was completed in 1850 with the addition of the gates, made in wood below water and iron above, the drawbridge
Drawbridge
A drawbridge is a type of movable bridge typically associated with the entrance of a castle surrounded by a moat. The term is often used to describe all different types of movable bridges, like bascule bridges and lift bridges.-Castle drawbridges:...
s outside the gates, also made of iron, and a cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
sign was finally added in the middle of the lock displaying: "Built during the VII year of reign of Oscar I". The costs ended at 335,000 riksdaler, 75 per cent below the estimated cost, while the entire project was completed a year before the scheduled five years.
The Inauguration on November 28, 1850, led by King Oscar I
Oscar I of Sweden
Oscar I was King of Sweden and Norway from 1844 to his death. When, in August 1810, his father Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was elected Crown Prince of Sweden, Oscar and his mother moved from Paris to Stockholm . Oscar's father was the first ruler of the current House of Bernadotte...
and including two military orchestras, salutes, and cheering crowds, culminated as the king descended the dock, and was the last to leave it before the water was let in and the bridges were opened to the public. Ericson was made Commander of the Royal Order of Vasa
Order of Vasa
The Royal Order of Vasa was a Swedish Royal order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III of Sweden...
and the city rewarded the engineer amply, while the supervisor of the project, de Geer, was made Knight of the same order. A model of the dock was displayed at the Exposition Universelle
Exposition Universelle (1855)
The Exposition Universelle of 1855 was an International Exhibition held on the Champs-Elysées in Paris from May 15 to November 15, 1855. Its full official title was the Exposition Universelle des produits de l'Agriculture, de l'Industrie et des Beaux-Arts de Paris 1855.The exposition was a major...
in Paris in 1855 were Ericson received the silver medallion. The creation of the lock made it obvious the untidy surrounding area needed a facelift, and Ericson was therefore given the task of embellishing it. A paved space was added south of the lock, Karl Johans Torg
Karl Johans Torg
Karl Johans Torg is a public square between the old town Gamla stan and Slussen in central Stockholm, Sweden.- Setting :...
, and the sculptor Bengt Erland Fogelberg
Bengt Erland Fogelberg
Bengt Erland Fogelberg , was a Swedish sculptor.Fogelberg was born at Gothenburg. His father, a copper-founder, encouraging an early exhibited taste for design, sent him in 1801 to Stockholm, where he studied at the school of art...
(1786–1854) created an equestrian statue of Charles XIV John
Charles XIV John of Sweden
Charles XIV & III John, also Carl John, Swedish and Norwegian: Karl Johan was King of Sweden and King of Norway from 1818 until his death...
(1763–1844), carried out in Rome and cast in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
in 1852. Ericson was raised to peerage at the unveiling ceremony November 4, 1854, which made him skipped the second s in his surname. The old canal was rebuilt into a fish sump with a bazaar added on top of it. The irregular waterfront running along Skeppsbron
Skeppsbron
Skeppsbron is both a street and a quay in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, capital of Sweden, stretching from the bridge Strömbron in front of the Royal Palace southward to Slussen....
east and north of the lock, at the time still heaped with wooden hovel and other hardly representative structures, was unified 1852-1854 to a single, coherent quay 600 meters in length, while Kornhamnstorg
Kornhamnstorg
Kornhamnstorg is a public square in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden.Old names : Kornhaffn , Jernboen , Åkaretorget , Kornhampns torget...
on the western side was furnished with a 45 meters long quay. Finally, Ericson also designed two of the drydocks on Beckholmen
Beckholmen
Beckholmen is a small island in central Stockholm, Sweden.Having served the city's shipping industry for centuries, Beckholmen is now regarded as a historical monument of national interest, and, by its location just south of Djurgården in the vicinity of other similar localities it also...
, still in use.
While the lock of Ericson remained in use, the sea traffic continuously increased and in the 1920s more than 25,000 ships used it annually. Its dimensions soon proved insufficient and a shipyard
Shipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
located upstream had to build its ships in two pieces, tow them through the lock to assemble them in a second yard downstream. The working length was eventually increased by adding to secondary gates which lengthened the dock from 45 meters to 58,6 (using one of the gates) and 70,45 meters (using both) respectively. Today the lock of Ericson is superseded by the fourth lock, it is still in existence under the statue of Charles John, in spring much needed as a spillway for the annual spring flood discharge.
External links
- Stockholmskällan - Historical overview
- The Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA) - Opening hours
- City archive of Stockholm - Historical images
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Karl Johanslussen ("Lock of Charles John
Charles XIV John of Sweden
Charles XIV & III John, also Carl John, Swedish and Norwegian: Karl Johan was King of Sweden and King of Norway from 1818 until his death...
") is a lock
Lock (water transport)
A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
and a sluice
Sluice
A sluice is a water channel that is controlled at its head by a gate . For example, a millrace is a sluice that channels water toward a water mill...
, connecting and controlling the flood discharge between Riddarfjärden
Riddarfjärden
Riddarfjärden, literally the Knight Firth, is a bay of Lake Mälaren in central Stockholm. Stockholm was founded in 1252 on an island in the stream where Lake Mälaren drains into the Baltic Sea . The island is today called Stadsholmen and constitutes Stockholm's Old Town...
, the easternmost part of Lake Mälaren
Mälaren
Lake Mälaren is the third-largest lake in Sweden, after Lakes Vänern and Vättern. Its area is 1,140 km² and its greatest depth is 64 m. Mälaren spans 120 kilometers from east to west...
, and Saltsjön
Saltsjön
Saltsjön is a bay of the Baltic Sea that extends from Stockholm archipelago to the inner city of Stockholm. Its innermost part reaches the eastern shore of Gamla stan at Skeppsbrokajen. It is navigable for large craft and the major ferry lines to and from Stockholm pass through it...
, the section of the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
reaching into central Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. The lock is 75 meters long, 10 meters wide and 3.90 meters deep. The maximum height is 3.8 meters.
Before World War I, few of the steam ships in the harbor of Stockholm were larger than 500 tonnes, and the previous lock thus largely sufficient. While commercial traffic was relocated to Hammarbyleden passing south of Södermalm
Södermalm
Södermalm, often shortened to "Söder", is a district in central Stockholm. It covers the large island formerly called "Åsön". With a population of 99,685, it is one of the most densely populated districts of Scandinavia...
in 1926-1929, the present lock, completed in 1935, was still used by some 3,000 commercial vessels in 1970s, and log rafts passed through the canal until the 1950s. Its main function is however to allow passage for pleasure boats and sightseeing boats.
Construction
Like the surrounding area SlussenSlussen
Slussen is an area of central Stockholm, connecting Södermalm and Gamla stan. The area is named after the locks between Lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The locks themselves allow passage between these two bodies of water...
, named after the lock and built simultaneous to it in 1930-1935, the lock is a concrete construction resting on franki piles (e.g. cast-in-situ piles) located along the sides of the canal and next to the gates. The base plate is made of reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
, reinforced with steel sleepers next to the gates. The walls of the canal are dressed in granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
reinforced with vertical iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
rebate
Rebate
Rebate can refer to:* Rebate or rabbet, a woodworking term for a groove* Film rebate, the term for the border around photographic film- Money :* Rebate , a type of sales promotion used in marketing* Tax rebate, a reduction in taxation demanded...
s stretching three meters from the bottom and horizontal anchoring irons. The two gates are sheeted with steel and lowered from the overhead road bridge, each of them operated with individual machinery hidden in the premises south of the canal. This sort of gates can be operated independent of water pressure, which makes additional aperture and culverts unnecessary for turning the lock.
History
- For historical images, see external links.
Rise of Sweden as a Great Power
During the 17th century, despite having scarcely more than 1 million inhabitants, Sweden emerged to have greater foreign influence, after winning wars against Denmark–Norway, The Holy Roman Empire, Russia, and The Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania...
, and as such its capital apparently needed a facelift. The eastern waterfront of the city was remolded into what was to become Skeppsbron
Skeppsbron
Skeppsbron is both a street and a quay in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, capital of Sweden, stretching from the bridge Strömbron in front of the Royal Palace southward to Slussen....
, the representative front of the city, and the western part, turned into ashes in the great fire of 1625, was reshaped in accordance to modern town planning. These changes necessarily had to affect the southern city gate and its watercourse; a large slaughterhouse was built on the eastern side of the passage in 1626, while two watermill
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
s with five systems of mill wheels each flanked the still undeveloped watercourse. Ships, still pulled by hand over the shallow passage, couldn't pass at all during some seasons and regularly ran ashore causing constant and expensive repairs, while the sheds and simple buildings next to it were often washed away by floods in spring and autumn.
Lock of Queen Christina
In 1634, works were begun to transform the two streams into a modern canal and construction works on the lock could finally start when the two oldest towers were demolished in 1637. Dutch craftsmen were brought in for the project led by two Dutch carpenters, called Adrian Dams and Lennart Hermanson. A pole-driver was used to dam up the watercourse during four months before the seabed was excavated and larger blocks were burnt into smaller pieces carried away by hand. Finally, in 1638 the dam was temporarily opened for the wooden box of the canal, towed in from the construction site on SkeppsholmenSkeppsholmen
Skeppsholmen is one of the islands of Stockholm. It is connected with Blasieholmen and Kastellholmen by bridges. Positioned strategically at the Baltic Sea entrance to Stockholm, it has traditionally been the location of several military buildings...
. The interior faces of the box was then dressed up in a block wall using stone imported from the Netherlands before the copper-dressed locks were completed. When completed in 1642, the Dutch were sent home and the lock was named Drottning Kristinas sluss ("Lock of Queen Christina") after Queen Christina
Christina of Sweden
Christina , later adopted the name Christina Alexandra, was Queen regnant of Swedes, Goths and Vandals, Grand Princess of Finland, and Duchess of Ingria, Estonia, Livonia and Karelia, from 1633 to 1654. She was the only surviving legitimate child of King Gustav II Adolph and his wife Maria Eleonora...
(1626–1689), about to come of age. In spite of the constant need of repair, the canal and its lock was an instant success, the city's earnings from customs increased sixfold, and as the loading an unloading of iron was relocated to the old moat in 1662, the area developed into one of most vital ports in Europe, after 1636 handling approximately two third of the Swedish export. German and Dutch merchants opened branch offices on the southern side in 1664, and Russian shops were built next to them in 1641 (the space is still called Ryssgården, "The Russian Yard"). A planned Swedish trade house, started by Nicodemus Tessin the Elder
Nicodemus Tessin the Elder
Nicodemus Tessin the Elder was an important Swedish architect.-Biography:Nicodemus Tessin was born in Stralsund in Pomerania and came to Sweden as a young man. There he met and worked with the architect Simon de la Vallée...
, half-finished and struck by fire in 1680, was finally completed to the plans of Nicodemus Tessin the Younger
Nicodemus Tessin the Younger
Count Nicodemus Tessin the Younger was a Swedish Baroque architect, city planner, and administrator.The son of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and the father of Carl Gustaf Tessin, Tessin the Younger was the middle-most generation of the brief Tessin dynasty, which have had a lasting influence on...
and called the "Southern Town Hall" (Södra Stadshuset), today housing the Stockholm City Museum
Stockholm City Museum
The Stockholm City Museum is a museum documenting and exhibiting the history of Stockholm. The museum is housed in Södra Stadshuset at Slussen on Södermalm. The building was completed in 1685...
. In 1698, Tessin the Younger added a second drawbridge to the area, demolishing most of the tower of Gustav Vasa and the moat in the process. The southern city gate had by this time transformed into the city's financial centre, defraying the many Baroque palaces built during the era, and into a major traffic junction, serving both an increasing number of ships, the citizens of Stockholm who increased from 9,000 to 47,000 people 1611-1675.
Lock of Polhem
Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII also Carl of Sweden, , Latinized to Carolus Rex, Turkish: Demirbaş Şarl, also known as Charles the Habitué was the King of the Swedish Empire from 1697 to 1718...
in 1718, and the defeat in the Great Northern War
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...
(1700–1721) the Swedish capital was a city in despair, preparing for a Russian attack and encamped by impoverished, refugees, and idle soldiers. The southern lock of the city was approaching a century in age, a bottleneck in a state of decay, inadequate for both the larger shipping vessels of the era and the increasing traffic load. While Göran Josuæ Adelcrantz (1668–1739), the pupil and successor of Tessin the Younger, was mostly occupied by the construction works of the new Royal Palace
Stockholm Palace
The Stockholm Palace is the official residence and major royal palace of the Swedish monarch. . Stockholm Palace is located on Stadsholmen , in Gamla Stan in the capital, Stockholm...
, in 1622 he accomplished an emergency repair of the old lock; workers wading between the temporary embankments filling cracks with clay, straw, and muck, while loose and missing planks were put back in place. These measure not only ended much more expensive than intended but also proved completely insufficient, and as the decay had obviously made the old lock impossible to repair properly, Christopher Polhem
Christopher Polhem
Christopher Polhammar , better known as , which he took after his ennoblement, was a Swedish scientist, inventor and industrialist. He made significant contributions to the economic and industrial development of Sweden, particularly mining.-Biography:Polhem was born on the island of Gotland...
(1661–1751), "the father of Swedish mechanics", was consulted for a new construction. The proposal of Adelcrantz for a new construction, estimated to cost 32,741 riksdaler
Swedish riksdaler
The riksdaler was the name of a Swedish coin first minted in 1604. Between 1777 and 1873, it was the currency of Sweden. The daler, like the dollar, was named after the German Thaler. The similarly named Reichsthaler, rijksdaalder, and rigsdaler were used in Germany and Austria-Hungary, the...
in silver coin
Silver coin
Silver coins are possibly the oldest mass produced form of coinage. Silver has been used as a coinage metal since the times of the Greeks. Their silver drachmas were popular trade coins....
s, was passed over by a suggested repair of the old lock by Johan Eberhard Carlberg (1683–1773) in 1726, limited in cost to 30,000 rikdaler while implying widening the canal from 6,5 to 8,2 meters, a proposal to the taste of the city's building board which subsequently had Adelcrantz replaced by Carlberg. The latter, however, was a daring man and he quickly produced a proposal for a new lock south of the old, a proposal which implied not only the demolition of the city's brewery, but also the discontinuation of the bar iron deposit next to the lock (the biggest in Europe, representing about 40% of the global market at the time). By 1728, however, the city had accepted the need for a new construction, and, as Carlberg was busy with other undertakings, finally assigned Polhem for the project in 1729. The proposal for a wooden construction he produced the following year didn't please the board which had anticipated a more lasting construction in stone, and as the whole affair failed to conclude, a contract wasn't signed until 1744. At the age of 93 years, only days before his death, Polhem was reward the knighthood of the Royal Order of the Polar Star
Order of the Polar Star
The Order of the Polar Star is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I of Sweden on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim....
, at the bottom of the lock. Finally inaugurated on May 2, 1755, Polhems sluss ("Lock of Polhem"), was 3,9 meters deep, 12,5 meters wide, and 59 meters long; in the western end overpassed by a drawbridge flanked by two brick towers on either side and therefore called Röda Slussen ("The Red Lock"). With the new lock the surrounding area changed considerably in character; on the square south of the lock a triangular block was built, named Strykjärnet ("The [Cloth] Iron"); several old wooden buildings were replaced by new in stone; and an eastern bridge was added over the canal named Blå Slussen ("The Blue Lock") after the blue hoisting device.
Lock of Nils Ericson
Göta Canal
The Göta Canal is a Swedish canal constructed in the early 19th century. It formed the backbone of a waterway stretching some 382 miles , linking a number of lakes and rivers to provide a route from Gothenburg on the west coast to Söderköping on the Baltic Sea via the river Göta älv and the...
, was commissioned to investigate a new bridge and eventually became the first person to propose a new seaway south of Södermalm
Södermalm
Södermalm, often shortened to "Söder", is a district in central Stockholm. It covers the large island formerly called "Åsön". With a population of 99,685, it is one of the most densely populated districts of Scandinavia...
, a suggestion however reject as to expensive, why he instead made a proposal for a new lock before he fell out with the building authorities and left the capital. Successive plans for a new bridge were first encouraged as His Majesty personally granted subsidies worth 20,000 riksdaler annually during a period of ten years starting from 1837, provided that the city allocated the same amount to cover the cost was estimated to 394,000 riksdaler, the plans then fell upon problems however, as a competition in 1841 awarding the winning proposal 200 ducat
Ducat
The ducat is a gold coin that was used as a trade coin throughout Europe before World War I. Its weight is 3.4909 grams of .986 gold, which is 0.1107 troy ounce, actual gold weight...
s produced no entries, and a new competition in 1843 awarding 500 ducats resulted in the same outcome. The savior appeared in 1845 when lieutenant colonel Nils Ericson
Nils Ericson
Friherre Nils Ericson was a Swedish mechanical engineer...
(1802–1870), who had worked for Baltzar von Platen at Göta Canal, delivered a proposal for which is was, except for the award, also given 2,000 riksdaler for a supplemental investigation. The new lock required to be 9,5 meters wide, 3,6 meters deep at low tide, while the distance between the gates should be made 45 meters. The cost was estimated to 422,000 riksdaler, and Ericson's recompense settled at 40,000 riksdaler to be paid once the sluice was completed.
In preparation for Nils Ericsons sluss ("Lock of Nils Ericson") he made detailed studies and minute calculations in 1845-1846. He concluded there were insufficient stonemasons in the Stockholm area, and therefore had limestone and granite brought in from other parts of Sweden, quarries Ericson knew well from his earlier projects. He constructed a circular saw turned inwards to cut the head each stock at equal level for the bottom of the caisson
Caisson (engineering)
In geotechnical engineering, a caisson is a retaining, watertight structure used, for example, to work on the foundations of a bridge pier, for the construction of a concrete dam, or for the repair of ships. These are constructed such that the water can be pumped out, keeping the working...
, an instrument which was, like virtually all heavy tasks during the project, hand operated by several men. Empty barrels were used as rafts. Ericson gave directions for all sorts of tasks, including dredging, securing the rabbet
Rabbet
A rabbet is a recess or groove cut into the edge of a piece of machineable material, usually wood. When viewed in cross-section, a rabbet is two-sided and open to the edge or end of the surface into which it is cut....
ing of planks, earth fillings, and determining the inclination of the caisson walls in order for them to withstand the pressure from the levee
Levee
A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...
s. He had to use an expensive steam dredger, but could avoid a machine for the drainage which saved a lot of money. He also made great efforts to make the extensive piling for the foundation
Deep foundation
A deep foundation is a type of foundation distinguished from shallow foundations by the depth they are embedded into the ground. There are many reasons a geotechnical engineer would recommend a deep foundation over a shallow foundation, but some of the common reasons are very large design loads, a...
more efficient; the drop forge of the pile driver
Pile driver
A pile driver is a mechanical device used to drive piles into soil to provide foundation support for buildings or other structures. The term is also used in reference to members of the construction crew that work with pile-driving rigs....
should hit the pile with a constant effect, why Ericson had the labourers lower the device as the pile sunk. The timbered caisson was built as a huge box on Djurgården, just north-east of the bridge Lilla Sjötullsbron
Lilla Sjötullsbron
Lilla Sjötullsbron is a concrete pedestrian bridge in central Stockholm, Sweden. Passing over Djurgårdsbrunnskanalen it connects Djurgården island to the mainland north of it....
, slightly more than 79 meters in length, 16,5 meters in width and 6,2 meters in height (266½×56×21 feet), subsequently towed into place before the ends were removed. The temporary drydock on Djurgården is still discernible as a depression in the landscape. The construction work on the caisson began in May 1847 with the construction of barracks for 60 men and a smithy. In the drydock keel blocks 3 inches (76.2 mm) tall were then placed and the bottom of the caisson was built upon them — a bed consisting of 3 inches (76.2 mm) deal
Softwood
The term softwood is used to describe wood from trees that are known as gymnosperms.Conifers are an example. It may also be used to describe trees, which tend to be evergreen, notable exceptions being bald cypress and the larches....
, 12 inches (304.8 mm) beam
Beam (structure)
A beam is a horizontal structural element that is capable of withstanding load primarily by resisting bending. The bending force induced into the material of the beam as a result of the external loads, own weight, span and external reactions to these loads is called a bending moment.- Overview...
s, and 1 1/4 inches of board
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
s. The caisson was completed in August, water was let in and the building berth and the barrage were removed. The floating was done in two hours 2-4 a.m., and its dimensions produced enthusiastic comparisons: "larger than the Stockholm Cathedral
Storkyrkan
Sankt Nikolai kyrka , most commonly known as Storkyrkan and Stockholms domkyrka , is the oldest church in Gamla Stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is an important example of Swedish Brick Gothic...
!", "...could house the entire Swedish Army and its paraphernalia
Paraphernalia
In modern usage, the word paraphernalia most commonly refers to apparatus, equipment, or furnishing used in or necessary for a particular activity as in, "Beth is such an avid sports fan that her walls are covered with baseball paraphernalia"....
."
Curb
Curb may refer to:* Curb , or kerb, the edge where a raised pavement/sidewalk/footpath, road median, or road shoulder meets an unraised street or other roadway.* Curb Records, a record label started by Mike Curb in 1973....
s and piles were removed from the seabed. Ericson concluded there never was an isthmus
Isthmus
An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas usually with waterforms on either side.Canals are often built through isthmuses where they may be particularly advantageous to create a shortcut for marine transportation...
connecting the two island, in opposition to later expertise who believe they were cut off around 1000 AD. 2,000 piles were driven into the seabed, one about every two meters, and a bed of grit
Grit
Grit may refer to:* GRIT , also known as Arhgap32 or PX-RICS* Grit , a U.S. periodical founded as a newspaper in 1882* Grit , by Celtic fusion musician Martyn Bennett* Grit , by Norwegian rock band Madrugada...
made up the leveled bed for the caisson. Since the caisson was fit into place the bricklaying of the bottom, sills, and lower parts of the walls began. The caisson was lowered with ballast of gravel and rock waste before water was pored in and the box sank into place — the fit was perfect and the box so tight the planned hiring of a steam engine to pump it dry could be cancelled. As the masonry with mortar
Mortar (masonry)
Mortar is a workable paste used to bind construction blocks together and fill the gaps between them. The blocks may be stone, brick, cinder blocks, etc. Mortar becomes hard when it sets, resulting in a rigid aggregate structure. Modern mortars are typically made from a mixture of sand, a binder...
begun in May 1849, the ballast was gradually removed. Limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
from Borgholm
Borgholm
Borgholm is a city and the seat of Borgholm Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 3,093 inhabitants in 2005. It is located on the island of Öland in the Baltic Sea....
was used up to 12 feet over the bottom, while granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
was cut locally for the upper part of the construction. Between the inner walls of the caisson and the stone walls, homogeneous, well-worked clay was used as a protection against frost and decay, while compressed sand was used outside the caisson. The entire construction was completed in 1850 with the addition of the gates, made in wood below water and iron above, the drawbridge
Drawbridge
A drawbridge is a type of movable bridge typically associated with the entrance of a castle surrounded by a moat. The term is often used to describe all different types of movable bridges, like bascule bridges and lift bridges.-Castle drawbridges:...
s outside the gates, also made of iron, and a cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
sign was finally added in the middle of the lock displaying: "Built during the VII year of reign of Oscar I". The costs ended at 335,000 riksdaler, 75 per cent below the estimated cost, while the entire project was completed a year before the scheduled five years.
The Inauguration on November 28, 1850, led by King Oscar I
Oscar I of Sweden
Oscar I was King of Sweden and Norway from 1844 to his death. When, in August 1810, his father Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was elected Crown Prince of Sweden, Oscar and his mother moved from Paris to Stockholm . Oscar's father was the first ruler of the current House of Bernadotte...
and including two military orchestras, salutes, and cheering crowds, culminated as the king descended the dock, and was the last to leave it before the water was let in and the bridges were opened to the public. Ericson was made Commander of the Royal Order of Vasa
Order of Vasa
The Royal Order of Vasa was a Swedish Royal order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III of Sweden...
and the city rewarded the engineer amply, while the supervisor of the project, de Geer, was made Knight of the same order. A model of the dock was displayed at the Exposition Universelle
Exposition Universelle (1855)
The Exposition Universelle of 1855 was an International Exhibition held on the Champs-Elysées in Paris from May 15 to November 15, 1855. Its full official title was the Exposition Universelle des produits de l'Agriculture, de l'Industrie et des Beaux-Arts de Paris 1855.The exposition was a major...
in Paris in 1855 were Ericson received the silver medallion. The creation of the lock made it obvious the untidy surrounding area needed a facelift, and Ericson was therefore given the task of embellishing it. A paved space was added south of the lock, Karl Johans Torg
Karl Johans Torg
Karl Johans Torg is a public square between the old town Gamla stan and Slussen in central Stockholm, Sweden.- Setting :...
, and the sculptor Bengt Erland Fogelberg
Bengt Erland Fogelberg
Bengt Erland Fogelberg , was a Swedish sculptor.Fogelberg was born at Gothenburg. His father, a copper-founder, encouraging an early exhibited taste for design, sent him in 1801 to Stockholm, where he studied at the school of art...
(1786–1854) created an equestrian statue of Charles XIV John
Charles XIV John of Sweden
Charles XIV & III John, also Carl John, Swedish and Norwegian: Karl Johan was King of Sweden and King of Norway from 1818 until his death...
(1763–1844), carried out in Rome and cast in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
in 1852. Ericson was raised to peerage at the unveiling ceremony November 4, 1854, which made him skipped the second s in his surname. The old canal was rebuilt into a fish sump with a bazaar added on top of it. The irregular waterfront running along Skeppsbron
Skeppsbron
Skeppsbron is both a street and a quay in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, capital of Sweden, stretching from the bridge Strömbron in front of the Royal Palace southward to Slussen....
east and north of the lock, at the time still heaped with wooden hovel and other hardly representative structures, was unified 1852-1854 to a single, coherent quay 600 meters in length, while Kornhamnstorg
Kornhamnstorg
Kornhamnstorg is a public square in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden.Old names : Kornhaffn , Jernboen , Åkaretorget , Kornhampns torget...
on the western side was furnished with a 45 meters long quay. Finally, Ericson also designed two of the drydocks on Beckholmen
Beckholmen
Beckholmen is a small island in central Stockholm, Sweden.Having served the city's shipping industry for centuries, Beckholmen is now regarded as a historical monument of national interest, and, by its location just south of Djurgården in the vicinity of other similar localities it also...
, still in use.
While the lock of Ericson remained in use, the sea traffic continuously increased and in the 1920s more than 25,000 ships used it annually. Its dimensions soon proved insufficient and a shipyard
Shipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
located upstream had to build its ships in two pieces, tow them through the lock to assemble them in a second yard downstream. The working length was eventually increased by adding to secondary gates which lengthened the dock from 45 meters to 58,6 (using one of the gates) and 70,45 meters (using both) respectively. Today the lock of Ericson is superseded by the fourth lock, it is still in existence under the statue of Charles John, in spring much needed as a spillway for the annual spring flood discharge.
External links
- Stockholmskällan - Historical overview
- The Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA) - Opening hours
- City archive of Stockholm - Historical images
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Karl Johanslussen ("Lock of Charles John
Charles XIV John of Sweden
Charles XIV & III John, also Carl John, Swedish and Norwegian: Karl Johan was King of Sweden and King of Norway from 1818 until his death...
") is a lock
Lock (water transport)
A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
and a sluice
Sluice
A sluice is a water channel that is controlled at its head by a gate . For example, a millrace is a sluice that channels water toward a water mill...
, connecting and controlling the flood discharge between Riddarfjärden
Riddarfjärden
Riddarfjärden, literally the Knight Firth, is a bay of Lake Mälaren in central Stockholm. Stockholm was founded in 1252 on an island in the stream where Lake Mälaren drains into the Baltic Sea . The island is today called Stadsholmen and constitutes Stockholm's Old Town...
, the easternmost part of Lake Mälaren
Mälaren
Lake Mälaren is the third-largest lake in Sweden, after Lakes Vänern and Vättern. Its area is 1,140 km² and its greatest depth is 64 m. Mälaren spans 120 kilometers from east to west...
, and Saltsjön
Saltsjön
Saltsjön is a bay of the Baltic Sea that extends from Stockholm archipelago to the inner city of Stockholm. Its innermost part reaches the eastern shore of Gamla stan at Skeppsbrokajen. It is navigable for large craft and the major ferry lines to and from Stockholm pass through it...
, the section of the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
reaching into central Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. The lock is 75 meters long, 10 meters wide and 3.90 meters deep. The maximum height is 3.8 meters.
Before World War I, few of the steam ships in the harbor of Stockholm were larger than 500 tonnes, and the previous lock thus largely sufficient. While commercial traffic was relocated to Hammarbyleden passing south of Södermalm
Södermalm
Södermalm, often shortened to "Söder", is a district in central Stockholm. It covers the large island formerly called "Åsön". With a population of 99,685, it is one of the most densely populated districts of Scandinavia...
in 1926-1929, the present lock, completed in 1935, was still used by some 3,000 commercial vessels in 1970s, and log rafts passed through the canal until the 1950s. Its main function is however to allow passage for pleasure boats and sightseeing boats.
Construction
Like the surrounding area SlussenSlussen
Slussen is an area of central Stockholm, connecting Södermalm and Gamla stan. The area is named after the locks between Lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The locks themselves allow passage between these two bodies of water...
, named after the lock and built simultaneous to it in 1930-1935, the lock is a concrete construction resting on franki piles (e.g. cast-in-situ piles) located along the sides of the canal and next to the gates. The base plate is made of reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
, reinforced with steel sleepers next to the gates. The walls of the canal are dressed in granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
reinforced with vertical iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
rebate
Rebate
Rebate can refer to:* Rebate or rabbet, a woodworking term for a groove* Film rebate, the term for the border around photographic film- Money :* Rebate , a type of sales promotion used in marketing* Tax rebate, a reduction in taxation demanded...
s stretching three meters from the bottom and horizontal anchoring irons. The two gates are sheeted with steel and lowered from the overhead road bridge, each of them operated with individual machinery hidden in the premises south of the canal. This sort of gates can be operated independent of water pressure, which makes additional aperture and culverts unnecessary for turning the lock.
History
- For historical images, see external links.
Rise of Sweden as a Great Power
During the 17th century, despite having scarcely more than 1 million inhabitants, Sweden emerged to have greater foreign influence, after winning wars against Denmark–Norway, The Holy Roman Empire, Russia, and The Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania...
, and as such its capital apparently needed a facelift. The eastern waterfront of the city was remolded into what was to become Skeppsbron
Skeppsbron
Skeppsbron is both a street and a quay in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, capital of Sweden, stretching from the bridge Strömbron in front of the Royal Palace southward to Slussen....
, the representative front of the city, and the western part, turned into ashes in the great fire of 1625, was reshaped in accordance to modern town planning. These changes necessarily had to affect the southern city gate and its watercourse; a large slaughterhouse was built on the eastern side of the passage in 1626, while two watermill
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
s with five systems of mill wheels each flanked the still undeveloped watercourse. Ships, still pulled by hand over the shallow passage, couldn't pass at all during some seasons and regularly ran ashore causing constant and expensive repairs, while the sheds and simple buildings next to it were often washed away by floods in spring and autumn.
Lock of Queen Christina
In 1634, works were begun to transform the two streams into a modern canal and construction works on the lock could finally start when the two oldest towers were demolished in 1637. Dutch craftsmen were brought in for the project led by two Dutch carpenters, called Adrian Dams and Lennart Hermanson. A pole-driver was used to dam up the watercourse during four months before the seabed was excavated and larger blocks were burnt into smaller pieces carried away by hand. Finally, in 1638 the dam was temporarily opened for the wooden box of the canal, towed in from the construction site on SkeppsholmenSkeppsholmen
Skeppsholmen is one of the islands of Stockholm. It is connected with Blasieholmen and Kastellholmen by bridges. Positioned strategically at the Baltic Sea entrance to Stockholm, it has traditionally been the location of several military buildings...
. The interior faces of the box was then dressed up in a block wall using stone imported from the Netherlands before the copper-dressed locks were completed. When completed in 1642, the Dutch were sent home and the lock was named Drottning Kristinas sluss ("Lock of Queen Christina") after Queen Christina
Christina of Sweden
Christina , later adopted the name Christina Alexandra, was Queen regnant of Swedes, Goths and Vandals, Grand Princess of Finland, and Duchess of Ingria, Estonia, Livonia and Karelia, from 1633 to 1654. She was the only surviving legitimate child of King Gustav II Adolph and his wife Maria Eleonora...
(1626–1689), about to come of age. In spite of the constant need of repair, the canal and its lock was an instant success, the city's earnings from customs increased sixfold, and as the loading an unloading of iron was relocated to the old moat in 1662, the area developed into one of most vital ports in Europe, after 1636 handling approximately two third of the Swedish export. German and Dutch merchants opened branch offices on the southern side in 1664, and Russian shops were built next to them in 1641 (the space is still called Ryssgården, "The Russian Yard"). A planned Swedish trade house, started by Nicodemus Tessin the Elder
Nicodemus Tessin the Elder
Nicodemus Tessin the Elder was an important Swedish architect.-Biography:Nicodemus Tessin was born in Stralsund in Pomerania and came to Sweden as a young man. There he met and worked with the architect Simon de la Vallée...
, half-finished and struck by fire in 1680, was finally completed to the plans of Nicodemus Tessin the Younger
Nicodemus Tessin the Younger
Count Nicodemus Tessin the Younger was a Swedish Baroque architect, city planner, and administrator.The son of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and the father of Carl Gustaf Tessin, Tessin the Younger was the middle-most generation of the brief Tessin dynasty, which have had a lasting influence on...
and called the "Southern Town Hall" (Södra Stadshuset), today housing the Stockholm City Museum
Stockholm City Museum
The Stockholm City Museum is a museum documenting and exhibiting the history of Stockholm. The museum is housed in Södra Stadshuset at Slussen on Södermalm. The building was completed in 1685...
. In 1698, Tessin the Younger added a second drawbridge to the area, demolishing most of the tower of Gustav Vasa and the moat in the process. The southern city gate had by this time transformed into the city's financial centre, defraying the many Baroque palaces built during the era, and into a major traffic junction, serving both an increasing number of ships, the citizens of Stockholm who increased from 9,000 to 47,000 people 1611-1675.
Lock of Polhem
Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII also Carl of Sweden, , Latinized to Carolus Rex, Turkish: Demirbaş Şarl, also known as Charles the Habitué was the King of the Swedish Empire from 1697 to 1718...
in 1718, and the defeat in the Great Northern War
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...
(1700–1721) the Swedish capital was a city in despair, preparing for a Russian attack and encamped by impoverished, refugees, and idle soldiers. The southern lock of the city was approaching a century in age, a bottleneck in a state of decay, inadequate for both the larger shipping vessels of the era and the increasing traffic load. While Göran Josuæ Adelcrantz (1668–1739), the pupil and successor of Tessin the Younger, was mostly occupied by the construction works of the new Royal Palace
Stockholm Palace
The Stockholm Palace is the official residence and major royal palace of the Swedish monarch. . Stockholm Palace is located on Stadsholmen , in Gamla Stan in the capital, Stockholm...
, in 1622 he accomplished an emergency repair of the old lock; workers wading between the temporary embankments filling cracks with clay, straw, and muck, while loose and missing planks were put back in place. These measure not only ended much more expensive than intended but also proved completely insufficient, and as the decay had obviously made the old lock impossible to repair properly, Christopher Polhem
Christopher Polhem
Christopher Polhammar , better known as , which he took after his ennoblement, was a Swedish scientist, inventor and industrialist. He made significant contributions to the economic and industrial development of Sweden, particularly mining.-Biography:Polhem was born on the island of Gotland...
(1661–1751), "the father of Swedish mechanics", was consulted for a new construction. The proposal of Adelcrantz for a new construction, estimated to cost 32,741 riksdaler
Swedish riksdaler
The riksdaler was the name of a Swedish coin first minted in 1604. Between 1777 and 1873, it was the currency of Sweden. The daler, like the dollar, was named after the German Thaler. The similarly named Reichsthaler, rijksdaalder, and rigsdaler were used in Germany and Austria-Hungary, the...
in silver coin
Silver coin
Silver coins are possibly the oldest mass produced form of coinage. Silver has been used as a coinage metal since the times of the Greeks. Their silver drachmas were popular trade coins....
s, was passed over by a suggested repair of the old lock by Johan Eberhard Carlberg (1683–1773) in 1726, limited in cost to 30,000 rikdaler while implying widening the canal from 6,5 to 8,2 meters, a proposal to the taste of the city's building board which subsequently had Adelcrantz replaced by Carlberg. The latter, however, was a daring man and he quickly produced a proposal for a new lock south of the old, a proposal which implied not only the demolition of the city's brewery, but also the discontinuation of the bar iron deposit next to the lock (the biggest in Europe, representing about 40% of the global market at the time). By 1728, however, the city had accepted the need for a new construction, and, as Carlberg was busy with other undertakings, finally assigned Polhem for the project in 1729. The proposal for a wooden construction he produced the following year didn't please the board which had anticipated a more lasting construction in stone, and as the whole affair failed to conclude, a contract wasn't signed until 1744. At the age of 93 years, only days before his death, Polhem was reward the knighthood of the Royal Order of the Polar Star
Order of the Polar Star
The Order of the Polar Star is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I of Sweden on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim....
, at the bottom of the lock. Finally inaugurated on May 2, 1755, Polhems sluss ("Lock of Polhem"), was 3,9 meters deep, 12,5 meters wide, and 59 meters long; in the western end overpassed by a drawbridge flanked by two brick towers on either side and therefore called Röda Slussen ("The Red Lock"). With the new lock the surrounding area changed considerably in character; on the square south of the lock a triangular block was built, named Strykjärnet ("The [Cloth] Iron"); several old wooden buildings were replaced by new in stone; and an eastern bridge was added over the canal named Blå Slussen ("The Blue Lock") after the blue hoisting device.
Lock of Nils Ericson
Göta Canal
The Göta Canal is a Swedish canal constructed in the early 19th century. It formed the backbone of a waterway stretching some 382 miles , linking a number of lakes and rivers to provide a route from Gothenburg on the west coast to Söderköping on the Baltic Sea via the river Göta älv and the...
, was commissioned to investigate a new bridge and eventually became the first person to propose a new seaway south of Södermalm
Södermalm
Södermalm, often shortened to "Söder", is a district in central Stockholm. It covers the large island formerly called "Åsön". With a population of 99,685, it is one of the most densely populated districts of Scandinavia...
, a suggestion however reject as to expensive, why he instead made a proposal for a new lock before he fell out with the building authorities and left the capital. Successive plans for a new bridge were first encouraged as His Majesty personally granted subsidies worth 20,000 riksdaler annually during a period of ten years starting from 1837, provided that the city allocated the same amount to cover the cost was estimated to 394,000 riksdaler, the plans then fell upon problems however, as a competition in 1841 awarding the winning proposal 200 ducat
Ducat
The ducat is a gold coin that was used as a trade coin throughout Europe before World War I. Its weight is 3.4909 grams of .986 gold, which is 0.1107 troy ounce, actual gold weight...
s produced no entries, and a new competition in 1843 awarding 500 ducats resulted in the same outcome. The savior appeared in 1845 when lieutenant colonel Nils Ericson
Nils Ericson
Friherre Nils Ericson was a Swedish mechanical engineer...
(1802–1870), who had worked for Baltzar von Platen at Göta Canal, delivered a proposal for which is was, except for the award, also given 2,000 riksdaler for a supplemental investigation. The new lock required to be 9,5 meters wide, 3,6 meters deep at low tide, while the distance between the gates should be made 45 meters. The cost was estimated to 422,000 riksdaler, and Ericson's recompense settled at 40,000 riksdaler to be paid once the sluice was completed.
In preparation for Nils Ericsons sluss ("Lock of Nils Ericson") he made detailed studies and minute calculations in 1845-1846. He concluded there were insufficient stonemasons in the Stockholm area, and therefore had limestone and granite brought in from other parts of Sweden, quarries Ericson knew well from his earlier projects. He constructed a circular saw turned inwards to cut the head each stock at equal level for the bottom of the caisson
Caisson (engineering)
In geotechnical engineering, a caisson is a retaining, watertight structure used, for example, to work on the foundations of a bridge pier, for the construction of a concrete dam, or for the repair of ships. These are constructed such that the water can be pumped out, keeping the working...
, an instrument which was, like virtually all heavy tasks during the project, hand operated by several men. Empty barrels were used as rafts. Ericson gave directions for all sorts of tasks, including dredging, securing the rabbet
Rabbet
A rabbet is a recess or groove cut into the edge of a piece of machineable material, usually wood. When viewed in cross-section, a rabbet is two-sided and open to the edge or end of the surface into which it is cut....
ing of planks, earth fillings, and determining the inclination of the caisson walls in order for them to withstand the pressure from the levee
Levee
A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...
s. He had to use an expensive steam dredger, but could avoid a machine for the drainage which saved a lot of money. He also made great efforts to make the extensive piling for the foundation
Deep foundation
A deep foundation is a type of foundation distinguished from shallow foundations by the depth they are embedded into the ground. There are many reasons a geotechnical engineer would recommend a deep foundation over a shallow foundation, but some of the common reasons are very large design loads, a...
more efficient; the drop forge of the pile driver
Pile driver
A pile driver is a mechanical device used to drive piles into soil to provide foundation support for buildings or other structures. The term is also used in reference to members of the construction crew that work with pile-driving rigs....
should hit the pile with a constant effect, why Ericson had the labourers lower the device as the pile sunk. The timbered caisson was built as a huge box on Djurgården, just north-east of the bridge Lilla Sjötullsbron
Lilla Sjötullsbron
Lilla Sjötullsbron is a concrete pedestrian bridge in central Stockholm, Sweden. Passing over Djurgårdsbrunnskanalen it connects Djurgården island to the mainland north of it....
, slightly more than 79 meters in length, 16,5 meters in width and 6,2 meters in height (266½×56×21 feet), subsequently towed into place before the ends were removed. The temporary drydock on Djurgården is still discernible as a depression in the landscape. The construction work on the caisson began in May 1847 with the construction of barracks for 60 men and a smithy. In the drydock keel blocks 3 inches (76.2 mm) tall were then placed and the bottom of the caisson was built upon them — a bed consisting of 3 inches (76.2 mm) deal
Softwood
The term softwood is used to describe wood from trees that are known as gymnosperms.Conifers are an example. It may also be used to describe trees, which tend to be evergreen, notable exceptions being bald cypress and the larches....
, 12 inches (304.8 mm) beam
Beam (structure)
A beam is a horizontal structural element that is capable of withstanding load primarily by resisting bending. The bending force induced into the material of the beam as a result of the external loads, own weight, span and external reactions to these loads is called a bending moment.- Overview...
s, and 1 1/4 inches of board
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
s. The caisson was completed in August, water was let in and the building berth and the barrage were removed. The floating was done in two hours 2-4 a.m., and its dimensions produced enthusiastic comparisons: "larger than the Stockholm Cathedral
Storkyrkan
Sankt Nikolai kyrka , most commonly known as Storkyrkan and Stockholms domkyrka , is the oldest church in Gamla Stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is an important example of Swedish Brick Gothic...
!", "...could house the entire Swedish Army and its paraphernalia
Paraphernalia
In modern usage, the word paraphernalia most commonly refers to apparatus, equipment, or furnishing used in or necessary for a particular activity as in, "Beth is such an avid sports fan that her walls are covered with baseball paraphernalia"....
."
Curb
Curb may refer to:* Curb , or kerb, the edge where a raised pavement/sidewalk/footpath, road median, or road shoulder meets an unraised street or other roadway.* Curb Records, a record label started by Mike Curb in 1973....
s and piles were removed from the seabed. Ericson concluded there never was an isthmus
Isthmus
An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas usually with waterforms on either side.Canals are often built through isthmuses where they may be particularly advantageous to create a shortcut for marine transportation...
connecting the two island, in opposition to later expertise who believe they were cut off around 1000 AD. 2,000 piles were driven into the seabed, one about every two meters, and a bed of grit
Grit
Grit may refer to:* GRIT , also known as Arhgap32 or PX-RICS* Grit , a U.S. periodical founded as a newspaper in 1882* Grit , by Celtic fusion musician Martyn Bennett* Grit , by Norwegian rock band Madrugada...
made up the leveled bed for the caisson. Since the caisson was fit into place the bricklaying of the bottom, sills, and lower parts of the walls began. The caisson was lowered with ballast of gravel and rock waste before water was pored in and the box sank into place — the fit was perfect and the box so tight the planned hiring of a steam engine to pump it dry could be cancelled. As the masonry with mortar
Mortar (masonry)
Mortar is a workable paste used to bind construction blocks together and fill the gaps between them. The blocks may be stone, brick, cinder blocks, etc. Mortar becomes hard when it sets, resulting in a rigid aggregate structure. Modern mortars are typically made from a mixture of sand, a binder...
begun in May 1849, the ballast was gradually removed. Limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
from Borgholm
Borgholm
Borgholm is a city and the seat of Borgholm Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 3,093 inhabitants in 2005. It is located on the island of Öland in the Baltic Sea....
was used up to 12 feet over the bottom, while granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
was cut locally for the upper part of the construction. Between the inner walls of the caisson and the stone walls, homogeneous, well-worked clay was used as a protection against frost and decay, while compressed sand was used outside the caisson. The entire construction was completed in 1850 with the addition of the gates, made in wood below water and iron above, the drawbridge
Drawbridge
A drawbridge is a type of movable bridge typically associated with the entrance of a castle surrounded by a moat. The term is often used to describe all different types of movable bridges, like bascule bridges and lift bridges.-Castle drawbridges:...
s outside the gates, also made of iron, and a cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
sign was finally added in the middle of the lock displaying: "Built during the VII year of reign of Oscar I". The costs ended at 335,000 riksdaler, 75 per cent below the estimated cost, while the entire project was completed a year before the scheduled five years.
The Inauguration on November 28, 1850, led by King Oscar I
Oscar I of Sweden
Oscar I was King of Sweden and Norway from 1844 to his death. When, in August 1810, his father Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was elected Crown Prince of Sweden, Oscar and his mother moved from Paris to Stockholm . Oscar's father was the first ruler of the current House of Bernadotte...
and including two military orchestras, salutes, and cheering crowds, culminated as the king descended the dock, and was the last to leave it before the water was let in and the bridges were opened to the public. Ericson was made Commander of the Royal Order of Vasa
Order of Vasa
The Royal Order of Vasa was a Swedish Royal order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III of Sweden...
and the city rewarded the engineer amply, while the supervisor of the project, de Geer, was made Knight of the same order. A model of the dock was displayed at the Exposition Universelle
Exposition Universelle (1855)
The Exposition Universelle of 1855 was an International Exhibition held on the Champs-Elysées in Paris from May 15 to November 15, 1855. Its full official title was the Exposition Universelle des produits de l'Agriculture, de l'Industrie et des Beaux-Arts de Paris 1855.The exposition was a major...
in Paris in 1855 were Ericson received the silver medallion. The creation of the lock made it obvious the untidy surrounding area needed a facelift, and Ericson was therefore given the task of embellishing it. A paved space was added south of the lock, Karl Johans Torg
Karl Johans Torg
Karl Johans Torg is a public square between the old town Gamla stan and Slussen in central Stockholm, Sweden.- Setting :...
, and the sculptor Bengt Erland Fogelberg
Bengt Erland Fogelberg
Bengt Erland Fogelberg , was a Swedish sculptor.Fogelberg was born at Gothenburg. His father, a copper-founder, encouraging an early exhibited taste for design, sent him in 1801 to Stockholm, where he studied at the school of art...
(1786–1854) created an equestrian statue of Charles XIV John
Charles XIV John of Sweden
Charles XIV & III John, also Carl John, Swedish and Norwegian: Karl Johan was King of Sweden and King of Norway from 1818 until his death...
(1763–1844), carried out in Rome and cast in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
in 1852. Ericson was raised to peerage at the unveiling ceremony November 4, 1854, which made him skipped the second s in his surname. The old canal was rebuilt into a fish sump with a bazaar added on top of it. The irregular waterfront running along Skeppsbron
Skeppsbron
Skeppsbron is both a street and a quay in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, capital of Sweden, stretching from the bridge Strömbron in front of the Royal Palace southward to Slussen....
east and north of the lock, at the time still heaped with wooden hovel and other hardly representative structures, was unified 1852-1854 to a single, coherent quay 600 meters in length, while Kornhamnstorg
Kornhamnstorg
Kornhamnstorg is a public square in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden.Old names : Kornhaffn , Jernboen , Åkaretorget , Kornhampns torget...
on the western side was furnished with a 45 meters long quay. Finally, Ericson also designed two of the drydocks on Beckholmen
Beckholmen
Beckholmen is a small island in central Stockholm, Sweden.Having served the city's shipping industry for centuries, Beckholmen is now regarded as a historical monument of national interest, and, by its location just south of Djurgården in the vicinity of other similar localities it also...
, still in use.
While the lock of Ericson remained in use, the sea traffic continuously increased and in the 1920s more than 25,000 ships used it annually. Its dimensions soon proved insufficient and a shipyard
Shipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
located upstream had to build its ships in two pieces, tow them through the lock to assemble them in a second yard downstream. The working length was eventually increased by adding to secondary gates which lengthened the dock from 45 meters to 58,6 (using one of the gates) and 70,45 meters (using both) respectively. Today the lock of Ericson is superseded by the fourth lock, it is still in existence under the statue of Charles John, in spring much needed as a spillway for the annual spring flood discharge.
External links
- Stockholmskällan - Historical overview
- The Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA) - Opening hours
- City archive of Stockholm - Historical images
