Lock construction
Start of Baťa canal construction
The construction started on 16 October 1934 with the condition that the vessel traffic on this canal can be limited or even stopped when the construction of the Danube – Oder – Canal is started. The total budget for the construction was estimated for 25.4 million Czech crowns. Over time, the budget increased to 35 million Czech crowns; this increase was caused, among other things, by the flood in 1937, which damaged the unfinished construction. All the works were finished in autumn 1938.
The construction was demanding also from the organizational point of view – the Land Moravia-Silesia agreed upon with the Bata Company that the Land will be responsible for the delivery of plans and realization of earthworks and concrete structures, and the Bata Company will be responsible for the delivery of plans and all metal structures for locks, bridges, and weirs.
As it turned out during the construction, several locks had to be moved (they were located in old meanders on the Morava river and the complicated construction of the foundation would significantly increase the costs), in some other places aggressive sulphur-containing waters were found etc. Many problems appeared at coordination — the Bata Company was expected to deliver, in advance, drawings for the attachment of metal products, sometimes deliveries of metal structures were delayed — shortly, problems appeared as whenever a construction is built by two investors. During the construction, a lot of changes had to be implemented — the irrigation section was adapted to local conditions in a better way, several canal sections were placed at different heights in comparison with original plans, which led to a lower amount of earthworks and cost savings. The Bata Company also kept looking for further ways how to decrease the costs for navigable sections, and it was not afraid of unusual solutions.
