© Gaby Karlsson Hain
The locks are blasted into the rock and after the locks is a high-edged rock channel.
The flight of locks at Lennartsfors is, Håverud aside, the most impressive in Dalsland Canal. The locks were blasted into the rock and after the locks is a high-edged rock channel. The flight consists of three locks with a total height difference of 7.5 m. Just above the flight locks, a road bridge (bascule bridge) crosses the canal with a clearance of 3 m.
When you arrive at the upper lock from the north (from Lake Foxen), you will enter a long, narrow channel. The channel is separated from the heavy currents down to the power plant by a narrow stone pier. The water above the stone pier usually has strong currents, particularly when the water level is high. Boats coming from the north moor at the waiting jetty. There is a call station there with posted information on how to contact the lock keeper. For boats coming from the south, a green buoy marks the part of the waiting jetty that is not 1.8 m deep.
History of Lennartsfors
There was a water mill at Ränkforsen as far back as the 16th century. Yet it wasn’t until 1839 that the area held something that could truly be called a community. It was then that Lennartsfors Bruk factory was founded, and the community was named after the factory’s owner, Lennart Uggla. The factory produced everything from boats to spittoons and the flight of locks were constructed in the canal to facilitate transport to and from Lennartsfors. The factory was closed in 1877 and a pulp mill was established instead in Lennartsfors. 1948 began the next industrial epoch, when Lennartsfors Mekaniska Verkstad, in collaboration with Facit in Åtvidaberg, began manufacturing duplicators and hand-operated calculators. The company is still there and the business is now focused on small-scale forestry. Their product offering includes small sawmills and the Iron Horse forestry, farming and transportation system.
One more thing about Lennartsfors
This is wherecross country ski king Thomas Wassberg comes from. Only 21 years old, he debuted in the World cup and won the inofficial World cup. Wassberg has won four Olympic gold, three World championship gold, three World championship silver and a World championship bronze.
