An interesting technical solution for the Moravian Canal

The entrepreneurs of the Bata clan need no introduction. However, as for the man-made canal in southeastern Moravia and parts of central Moravia, it was initiated and partially financed by Jan Antonin Bata, who used it to transport coal mined in Lachishkovice to the thermal power plant in Otrokovice. Over 50 km long, the waterway ran partly along the bed of an artificial canal and partly along the Morava River, the largest waterway in Moravia. It started in Raciškovice.

Since these were located outside this waterway, the lignite mined here was loaded onto railroad wagons and transported along the tracks to the so-called tipping point in the village of Sudoměřice. The wagons did not have doors on the side as usual, but in front. The wagons were simply tilted by less complicated devices such as pulleys, ropes, and drives, and the contents were placed into the barges through the front doors. Thanks to the slope of the tracks, the empty wagons could slide off the tippers under their own power. It would have been futile to search for the engine on board. The 150-ton wagons were then towed to the intersection of the canal and the river near the village of Vnorovy by horse-drawn wagons (hence the well-known ship\’s term “horse-drawn”), connected in later years to the then famous Svoboda brand of tractors. The two rivers are separated by two locks. The water level of the canal here is several meters higher than that of the river. Therefore, pipes were laid at the bottom of the canal so that the canal was at the same height as before the crossing. The barges crossed the river using a special cableway and were again connected to another covering. The work was completed at Veseli nad Moravu, where the barges were towed by a motor tug down the river to the old town. There the tugs again replaced their covers and the barge and its cargo continued its journey along the canal to the village of Spytihněv, the last outpost in Slovakia.

There, the tugs again began their work, carrying the lignite from Laczkowice along the Morava River and about 1 km along the now unnavigable Dřevnice River in Otrokovice to their destination, the port of Otrokovice. The empty barge was then transported again in the same manner. The entire voyage took 10 hours, a solid performance considering that the barges had to cross 14 locks. In addition to the locks, technical equipment such as elevating iron bridges and weirs with automatic water level control were essential for operation on the waterway.

The Tippler building has been preserved and is one of the technical monuments. Unfortunately, the lifting mechanism is no longer there, but at least it can be viewed from the drawings. A non-functional torso remains on the cable car at the crossing. The saddest fate has befallen the Otrokovice port, which has completely disappeared and now only a few traces and relics remain as a reminder of its heyday.