Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

– Tisa–Danube Canal (DTD) ( sr, Канал Дунав-Тиса-Дунав, Kanal Dunav-Tisa-Dunav) is a canal system in

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

. It is a unique hydro-engineering system for flood control and hydrotechnical management, amelioration, forestry, water supply, waste water evacuation, navigation, tourism, fishing, hunting.

Name

It was named after the two large rivers which it connects – the Danube and the Tisa. There are several other names used for the canal in other languages: hu, Ferenc-csatorna; german: link=no, Donau-Theiß-Donau-Kanalsystem, etc.

Geography

It covers the northern part of

– the territory of

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

(

Bačka Bačka ( sr-cyrl, Бачка, ) or Bácska () is a geographical and historical area within the Pannonian Plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east. It is divided between Serbia and Hunga ...

and

Banat Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of T ...

regions), with the total area of about 12,700 km². It consists of a number of canals, including: * Great Bačka Canal * Little Bačka Canal

Characteristics

The total length of the dug main canals is 929 km, including new and old canals and streams which were completely or partially reconstructed and thus included in the new system. In the basic canal network there are 51 structures – 24

gates Gates is the plural of gate, a point of entry to a space which is enclosed by walls. It may also refer to: People * Gates (surname), various people with the last name * Gates Brown (1939-2013), American Major League Baseball player * Gates McFadde ...

, 16

locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

, five safety gates, six

pumping stations Pumping stations, also called pumphouses in situations such as drilled wells and drinking water, are facilities containing pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are used for a variety of infrastructure systems, ...

, and 180 bridges. There are 14 cargo ports on the canals. On the new canals of the Danube-Tisa-Danube water system, 84 bridges were built – 62 carriageway, 19 railway and 3 pedestrian bridges. One of the most important structures within this water system is the dam on the river Tisa near

Novi Bečej Novi Bečej (, hu, Törökbecse) is a town and municipality located in the Central Banat District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 13,133, while Novi Bečej municipality has 23,925 inhabitants. Nam ...

which regulates the water regime in the basic canal network in Banat, for irrigation of about 3,000 km².

History

Historically the channel is called ''Franz Channel'', after emperor

Franz II Francis II (german: Franz II.; 12 February 1768 – 2 March 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor (from 1792 to 1806) and the founder and Emperor of the Austrian Empire, from 1804 to 1835. He assumed the title of Emperor of Austria in response ...

. He was the Emperor of Austria as its construction started in the time when

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

was part of the Habsburg monarchy. Even the emperor visited the construction site. The smaller channel that starts from

Stapar Stapar () is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Sombor municipality, in the West Bačka District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 3,720 people (2002 census). History First larg ...

and goes to

was called ''Franz Joseph Channel''. The dam is based on the plans of Albert Hainz, who was the technical director of the channel. The dam was constructed between 1895 and 1899.

István Türr István Türr ( it, Stefano Türr, french: Étienne Türr), (10 August 1825 in Baja, Hungary – 3 May 1908 in Budapest) was a Hungarian soldier, revolutionary, canal architect and engineer, remembered in Italy for his role in that country's ...

participated in the compilation and implementation of the plans. The dam locks are powered by electricity. The electrical power required for operation is provided by the lock-built hydroelectric power generator. According to the official records, delegations arrived from as far as Japan for the inauguration ceremony. At the time of its construction, it was one of the most sophisticated dam-locks in the world.

External links

Interactive map of Danube, Sava and Tisa rivers
– includes DTD canal (Archived on the Wayback Machine)(Requires Adobe Flash) {{DEFAULTSORT:Danube-Tisa-Danube Canals in Serbia Water transport in Serbia Transport in Vojvodina Geography of Vojvodina CDanube–Tisa–Danube Canal CDanube–Tisa–Danube Canal Bačka