Rybinsk Sea is one of the biggest man-made water-reservoirs of the world. It stretches for 140 km, reaching a width of up to 60 km. This man-made sea became the next crossing of waterways. From here a route to the Baltic Sea through the Volga-Baltic system can be laid.The route also runs to the White Sea via the Belomor-Baltic Canal. We also can run down the Volga to the Caspian, Azov and Black Seas through a Rybinsk lock. The Rybinskoye Sea is the first fresh sea created during the Soviet period. It began to be built before the great Patriotic War with the Fascist Germany. It wasd filled only in 1947, when the Volga, Mologa, and Sheksna Rivers as well as many small rivers carried into it hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of vernal (spring) floods. Twenty five billion cubic meters of water put into motion turbines of the hydro plant as well as giving the possibility of going to five seas. The Rybinsk lock is very big and interesting. It has two sections and vessels running in opposite directions can be transferred simultaneously. After the huge sea we find ourselves on a narrow river. It is not surprising, because in earlier times the Volga could be crossed at fords, but the river becomes marvelous again nearer to the town. |
