Vyshnii Volok Water System

Vyshnii Volok Water System

 

a waterway from Rybinsk to Leningrad.

The total length of the Vyshnii Volok Water System is 1,406 km; it has six small locks and eight reservoirs. The waterway passes through the Volga River, the Volga Reservoir, and the Tvertsa and Tsna rivers; across Lake Mstino; and through the Msta River, the Priil’men’ Canal, the Volkhov River, the Priladoga Canal, and the Neva River. The Vyshnii Volok Water System was the first man-made water system in Russia; its construction began in 1703, when a canal was built between the Tsna and Tvertsa rivers. The system was opened for navigation in 1709, but traffic was possible in only one direction—from the Volga to St. Petersburg.

The Vyshnii Volok Water System is used today as a local waterway, but it carries no transit shipping.