Timber floating to the Telemark Canal

Here at Heddalsvatnet lake, timber floating has taken place for hundreds of years. Before Notodden became an industrial city, timber was the only truly profitable product in the local villages and therefore an important export commodity. However, the roads were bad throughout Telemark, and it was difficult to transport timber by horse and cart. Back then, it was simply easier to throw the timber into the water and let the current do the hard work. When logs of timber are transported down rivers or across lakes, we say that they are floated. Timber floating has been organized as we know it today since the 17th century. The timber was floated here via the rivers Heddøla and Tinnelva. And it travelled far! From the 19th century, farmers organized joint floating from Tinnoset, so by the time the timber reached the Heddalsvatn lake, it had already traveled many miles. From the lake, the timber was floated on the Telemark Canal down to Skien, and from that point exported abroad. The Telemark Canal was crucial for the establishment of Norsk Hydro in Notodden and Rjukan. The canal made it possible to transport fertilizer on barges out to the coast by the waterway, and they did this until the railway took over this transport in 1917. Timber was transported on the canal until 2006 when timber trucks took over.