May 12 is the day the first shipping on the Ladoga Canal began

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On May 1731, 12, 283 years ago, shipping began on the Ladoga Canal. In the early 18th century, the transport supply of the St. Petersburg fleet and troops was through the waterways of the central provinces. The main connection between the Neva and the Volga rivers was through Lake Ladoga, but the frequent hurricane winds on the lake were extremely dangerous for shipping - the lake was therefore wrecked with hundreds of ships carrying cargo. So Peter I decided to build a canal around the lakes. According to the project, the canal was to pass a little further along the shoreline of the lake, between the Volkhov and Neva rivers. According to the project, it was 111 km (104 km) long, from New Ladoga to Shlisselburg, and its width was 21 m (10 sajen) above the water surface. The canal was without sluices according to the plan, and its depth was 2 m below the level of Lake Ladoga. Construction of the canal began in March 1719. Major-General G. Skornyakov-Pisarev presided. Thousands of people were mobilized for the construction - farmers, volunteers and the military. The difficult working conditions, as well as the poor organization of life and production, led to a great deal of construction. The leader's sluggishness, his handling of the affairs at hand, led to the construction being delayed. In the fall of 1723, Peter I personally inspected the progress of the work going on in the canal. He was very dissatisfied with the low quality of the photos and the numerous technical violations. He ordered the arrest of Skornyakov-Pisarev and some masters. Lieutenant General von Minix, a military engineer, was appointed to supervise the construction. He organized the construction, set up supplies, and improved the living conditions of the workers, who were paid regularly. It was Minix who proposed to improve the canal project at the expense of sluices, drains, dams, reserve pools and other structures, in order to eliminate the dependence of the passage of ships on them, taking into account the periodic fluctuations of water in the lake. Many hydraulic structures are decorated with granite and have an architectural elegance. After the death of Peter the Great, Catherine I drastically reduced the number of troops in the canal. The pace of work has slowed. Only in the spring of 1731 was construction completed because of the Minix's relentless movement. Queen Anna Ioannovna ceremoniously opened the canal, with Shlisselburg personally breaking the last barrier. May 1731, 1 was the official date of the voyage in the Ladoga Canal. This canal, built on the initiative of the Reformer-King, is named after him: the Great Peter Canal of the Emperor or the Peter Canal. The canal was the third largest building in the time of Peter I after St. Petersburg and Kronstadt. At the time, the canal was the largest hydraulic structure in Europe and a strategically influential Russian military facility. Unfortunately, at the same time, the canals became flooded and filled with garbage basins.