Volga Baltic Waterway, Lake Beloye Vologda Oblast, Russia travel
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The Volga–Baltic Waterway ( Volgobalt , Волгобалт) , formerly known as the Mariinsk Canal System (Russian: Мариинская водная система), is a series of canals and rivers in Russia which link the Volga River with the Baltic Sea via the Neva River. Like the Volga–Don Canal, the Volga–Baltic Waterway connects the biggest lake on Earth, the Caspian Sea, to the World Ocean. Its overall length between Cherepovets and Lake Onega is 368 kilometres (229 mi).

Originally constructed in the early 19th century, the system was rebuilt for larger vessels in the 1960s, becoming a part of the Unified Deep Water System of European Russia.

The original name "Mariinsky" is the credit to Empress Maria Feodorovna, the second wife of Emperor Paul I of Russia.

Volga–Baltic Canal improvement
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In Soviet times, the Mariinsk canal system was constantly improved. Two locks were built on the Svir River (in 1936 and 1952); 3 locks were built on the Sheksna River. Major improvement of the Volga–Baltic Waterway took place in 1960–1964, and the new Volga–Baltic Waterway was opened on 5 June 1964. 39 old wooden locks were replaced with 7 new locks, and one parallel lock was built later in 1995. The locks' limiting dimensions are 210 m long, 17.6 m wide and 4.2 m deep, allowing passage of river-sea ships of up to 5000 tons displacement. Such ships were able to sail directly across the big lakes instead of using the bypass canals. Typical travel time for Cherepovets – Saint Petersburg route decreased to 2.5–3 days from 10–15 days.

The new canal route sometimes follows the route of the old Mariinsk system and sometimes diverges from it. Six of the canal's eight locks are located along 35 km of the northern slope, with a total lift of 80 metres. The only 2 locks (parallel) on the southern slope, with a lift of 13 metres are located near Sheksna on the Sheksna River, 50 km upstream from Cherepovets. The canal route on the northern slope follows the Vytegra River flooded riverbed. The summit pond of the canal between Pakhomovo locks on Vytegra River and Sheksna Reservoir dam is 278 km long. It includes an artificial divide canal (40 km long), Kovzha River, Lake Beloye, and Sheksna River. The route of the southern slope follows the Sheksna River, where it is in the backwater area of Rybinsk Reservoir.

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