The Telemark Canal connects the towns of Skien and Dalen in southern Norway and links several long lakes in the Skien river basin through a series of 18 locks.
It originally consisted of two channels. The Norsjø-Skien Canal with locks in Skien and Løveid was built in 1854-1861 to connect Skien with Lake Norsjø. The longer Bandak-Norsjø canal was opened in 1892 by the Minister of Labour, Hans Hein Theodor Nysom, and extended the canal from Lake Norsjø through Lake Flåvatn and Kviteseidvatn (Kviteseidvatnet) to Lake Bandak. In Europe, this canal was considered the ‚eighth wonder‘ at the time of its completion. Bandak-Nordsjø Canal was built primarily for the transport of goods and people, the navigation of logs and as a flood prevention. Log floating is no longer practised due to the closure of the local Union paper mill. The eastern section provides access from Lake Norsjø to Notodden via Lake Heddalsvatnet.
Telemark Canal consists of 18 locks, is 105 km long and has a total height difference of 72 m. The largest staircase lock is Vrangfoss, which has five chambers and a lift height of 23 metres. River boats Henrik Ibsen and Victoria take tourists from Skien to Dalen via Kviteseid. The Victoria has been running on the Norsjø-Skien canal since 1882 and on the Bandak-Norsjø canal since its opening. The canal was chosen as the millennium site for the Telemark region. In 2012 it was also featured in the TV documentary Telemarkskanalen – minutt for minutt slow. In June 2017, the Bandak-Norsjø canal became a national cultural monument.
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