A SHORT HISTORY OF THE TAHKO WATER ROUTE

Water routes have always been very important historically in Finland. In the summer they have been filled with boats, and in the winter skis or horse-driven vehicles have been used to cross the ice. Finland was inhabited along water routes.

Border area

The Tahko water route is located in a historical border region - both in terms of religion, culture and politics. In the early Middle Ages, people fought of the ownership of the backwoods. The area was administered by Novgorod, and thus the Byzantine influence reached these northernmost areas of the Church of Rome. Later on, there was a fight between the states of Russia and Sweden, and thus between the orthodox and protestant religions.

The border markings from the Peace of Täyssinä (1595) can still be seen, for example, in the nature reserve area Pisa. In 1617, the area of the current Tahko water route became part of the Swedish kingdom. Life turned peaceful, and former lodges were filled by permanent population. There was game in the forests, burn-beaten areas grew rye, and fish were caught from the lake. Boats were used for transportation and compulsory trips to church in Kuopio.

Iron

The lakes and swamps in northern Savo included plenty of iron ore, which peasants could melt and use as material for their tools. At that time, Finland was a part of the kingdom of Sweden, and the kingdom needed iron. Because there was river power available in the area, and plenty of forests for burning coal, the iron foundry called Strömsdals bruk - later Juantehdas - was established in 1746. For this purpose, the largest rapids of the water route were harnessed. Charcoal, lake ore and bog ore were all transported to the factory using the water route.

In 1809, Finland became a grand duchy of Russia. At the end of the 19th century, for example iron could be imported to Russia duty-free. The completion of the Saimaa channel in 1856 was an important step for the exports of Juantehdas and northern Savo as a whole, because there seemed to be no limits on exports to Russia. Because of the good market, strong investments were made in Juankoski: a new blast furnace, new charcoal furnaces, a machine shop that produced agricultural, saw, milling and dairy machines. There was a loading point and a quay for travellers to Kuopio by Karjalankoski rapids.

Wood

The boom of the factory ended, as the prices of imported Russian bar iron fell below Finnish production costs. At the same time, the demand for wood increased. The oldest iron furnace in Savo burned for the last time in 1910. By that time, the plant was already producing ground-wood pulp, and a steam saw had been built there.  The large forests in Savo gained new value, logging sites were started, and the Syväri water system became a timber floating area. Floating ended, and road transportation started in the 1950's.

The first channel

Soon after the steam engine was invented, steamboats came to the lakes, able to transport considerably more passengers than the large church boats that were used earlier. A problematic point was the river between lakes Vuotjärvi and Akonvesi that had numerous rapids and factory dams that cut boat traffic to Kuopio, the administrative and commercial city of the province. The Lastukoski rapids were channelled between 1904 and 1906. Because the Juankoski rapids were not channelled, though that was attempted, the problem was solved using a narrow railway that took the passengers and freight in ships "from ship to ship" between the rapids of Karjalankoski and Niskakoski.

The Tahko Water Route

In the summer of 2002, the channels of Karjalankoski and Juankoski were finally completed, opening the water traffic of Syväri to the Saimaa water system and further to the Gulf of Finland. The EU supported the building project and the development of the channel. The lock canal of Juankoski was built in the place of the old floating canal, while that of Karjalankoski passes by the power plant and joins the river bed. Because tourism is economically very significant to the region, the new water route is a welcome promise for the future.

Sources:

- Eino Kinnunen
- Masuuni Brunou -museo, Juankoski
- Jukka Smura
- Kauko Pirinen: Savon historia, järviliikennettä Pohjois-Savossa
- Tauno Ruotsalainen: Nilsiän seurakunnan historia