Kąty Inclined Plane, Elbląg Canal

The Kąty inclined plane is one of five on the Elbląg Canal where boats, instead of using locks, travel on rails – riding on cradle cars over a grassy ridge. The track at Kąty is 450 m long, and boats climb or descend around 18 m here. The incline lies in the municipality of Pasłęk, within the village district of Krasin, and is the second after Buczyniec on the way towards Elbląg. Come during the sailing season, when the cars carry boats up and down the slope.

How the incline works

Each incline has two parallel tracks that start under water at the upper level, cross a dry ridge and run back under water at the lower level. On each track runs a car weighing 24 t with a payload of 50 t, hauled by a steel cable. The power comes from water falling onto a waterwheel in the engine house – by design, the machinery was driven solely by the gravity of water. According to the Regional Water Management Authority in Gdańsk, the system uses five times less water than the locks that would otherwise have been needed here.

History: an American idea on the Pasłęka

Construction of the canal began on 28 October 1844 in Miłomłyn. The hardest stretch was left until last: between Buczyniec and Jelenie, a height difference of 99.5 m had to be overcome over roughly 9 km. Chief engineer Georg Jacob Steenke had seen the solution in the USA, including on the Morris Canal, and proposed "dry" inclined planes. Kąty is one of the first four inclines (with Buczyniec, Oleśnica and Jelenie), opened in 1860. The fifth, Całuny, was finished in 1883.

Did you know?

• According to calculations quoted by the PAP news agency, building the canal cost the equivalent of 2.4 tonnes of gold – more than the Eiffel Tower (2.2 t).
• In the 2024 season, 3,521 vessels crossed the Kąty incline – just two fewer than at Buczyniec, the busiest of them all.
• Between 2011 and 2015 the canal was restored at a cost of PLN 115 million: waterwheels, cables, tracks and pillars were replaced on all the inclines. In 2011 the canal was declared a Monument of History.

Tripto tips

In 2026 the inclines operated from 25 April to 4 October, daily from 8:00 to 19:00 (notice from the Regional Water Management Authority in Gdańsk). The 2026 season is over, so check the 2027 dates before you travel; the incline operations team can be reached on 510 043 037. Out of season you can still see the tracks, wheels and engine house, but no boats run. Allow 20–40 minutes to look at the incline from the bank. Kąty is easy to combine with the neighbouring inclines at Buczyniec and Oleśnica, and Buczyniec has a small canal history room with an exhibition on its construction.