THE VOLGA-DON CANAL: HISTORIOGRAPHY OF RIVER CONNECTIONS AND ENGINEERING THOUGHT OF THE XIX-XX CENTURIES

Abstract

Attempts to connect the Volga and Don rivers (variant: Oka and Don) were made for several centuries until the launch of the Volga-Don Shipping Channel in 1952. The stages of design and construction reflected the historiography created during the XVIII-XXI centuries. It considered the works carried out in the area of convergence of the Volga and Don riverbeds and near the source of the Don at Ivan Lake. The route along which the water transport route was laid was reported, the organization of construction was described, hydraulic structures were listed, their size and operational characteristics were given. The article examines the mutual influence of historical works, as well as their relevance, which has changed taking into account changes in social and scientific and technical requests. The aim of the study was to find out how this historiography was related to the needs of the target groups of its creators and readers-historians and hydraulic engineers who designed the connection. It was found that hydraulic engineers often passed by the research of historians, if such, having novelty, did not contain historical and technical material. It is noted that after the connection of the Volga and the Don was carried out, the literature on its history merged again into a single stream.