Swoboda Lock on the Augustów Canal

Swoboda Lock lies deep in the Augustów Forest, on a stretch of the Augustów Canal less than a kilometre long that links Lake Studzieniczne with Lake Ślepe. Built in 1826–1827, it worked for decades with steel gates and a concrete bridge – only the renovation completed in 2018 gave it back wooden gates, like the other locks on the canal. It is the seventh lock counting from the Biebrza river and the last of the Polish locks to be thoroughly restored.

History: the work of Lelewel

The Augustów Canal was built to bypass Prussian customs posts on the grain trade and is 101 km long, 82 km of it in Poland; it has 18 locks. Swoboda Lock, at km 47.4 of the canal, was built under the direction of the military engineer Jan Paweł Lelewel. Its water comes from the nearby Swoboda pond.

In the 1960s the lock was modernised: the wooden gates were replaced with steel ones moved by a crank mechanism, a reinforced-concrete bridge was built and the approach basin was concreted. The new gate drive did not work well – a later lock-keeper dismantled it and restored the traditional balance-beam system. In 2017–2018 the lock was renovated for PLN 5.1 million: the walls of the lock heads and chamber, the floor, the bridge and the approach basins were repaired, and the steel gates were replaced with wooden ones made by a carpenter from the Sztabin municipality. The lock was officially reopened on 13 October 2018 during the "Autumn on the Augustów Canal" picnic.

The lock in numbers

• location: km 47.4 of the canal,
• difference in water level: 1.7 m – the height between Lake Studzieniczne and Lake Ślepe,
• chamber length: 45.77 m, width: 5.95 m (other sources round this to 45.4 m and 6 m),
• gates: wooden, recreated in 2018.

What to see

Look at the copings of the lock heads, faced with sandstone blocks, and the walls with grooves imitating stone masonry. The lock heads still hold remnants of the disused gate-opening mechanisms – a reminder of the failed modernisation. A wooden jetty and a cobbled path along the quay have been laid out by the lower approach, and a small bridge crosses the chamber. Next to it is the lock operator's hut.

Tripto tip

The lock itself is a 15–30 minute stop, best combined with a walk, a bike ride or a kayak trip on the canal. Locking is seasonal: in recent years, from 1 November the Augustów Canal locks operated only on working days from 8:00 to 14:00 and on one day's notice, until the water froze. If you plan to pass through by boat, check the current navigation notices of the Wody Polskie water authority in Białystok. Swoboda lies within the town limits of Augustów, but in the forest, close to Lake Studzieniczne.