Engebret Soot was the husbandman's son, who with inspiration in an old physics book, Finnish blood in his veins, mythological charm and an enormous ability to work; eventually becomes the founder of the entire Haldenkanalen. He was a capacity in words, actions and ideas. Strong human emotions, enormous courage, right-wing, fearless, musical; but also impulsive, temperamental and headstrong. A child of the elements. ​

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No man has been as important to the Halden Canal as Engebret Soot. But he was not just a local figure. By the author Jonas Lie, he and Ole Bull were referred to as the century's two great natural geniuses. The new SOOT game is not only a story about one of Norway's greatest men, but also a story about love, betrayal, forgiveness and reconciliation.

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Get to know Engebret Soot better here:

​Engebret Soot was born on 26 May 1786 and grew up on the homestead Sot in Mangskogen in Aurskog-Høland. He was trained as a blacksmith and carpenter by his father, and he became interested in water construction at an early age. As a teenager, he built his own mill and regulated a stream to ensure running water for the mill, and he learned to build water saws, gutters and ponds. Engebret Soot had no formal theoretical education beyond the common school of the time, but he was an unusually talented and hardworking man. In addition to having practical facilities and being a skilled craftsman, he was alert and good at seeing and learning from how things were done elsewhere. He had a special ability to see opportunities to exploit natural conditions, and he became a master of using materials on site for his buildings.

 

After he had advanced from householder to manager of the forest estate Søndre Mangen, in the early 1820s he was engaged by the sawmillers for river improvement work and the construction of floating facilities in the Haldenvassdraget. In 1825 he was commissioned to build a canal system over the property at Otteid between Stora Lee and Øymarksjøen. The canal was completed in 1827, and it was a success. The crossing capacity was doubled, and the costs of crossing the Swedish timber to Lake Øymarksjøen were reduced. In 1832, Engebret Soot built a cart plant in Lennartsforsen between the Swedish lakes Lelång and Foxen, and the plant increased the supply of Swedish timber for the sawmillers in Fredrikshald. Engebret Soot was appointed as floating inspector in the Swedish waterways and as manager for the Otteidkanalen and Kjerraten at Lennartsfors. He also received many assignments to build floating dams and other floating facilities both in the Swedish waterways and in the Halden watercourse. He also worked as a timber buyer for the sawmills, and they used him as a negotiator in difficult disputes with the landowners and floating teams.

 

The versatile Engebret Soot found it easy to get in touch with people and was adept at studying how things were done elsewhere, not least in Sweden, where there were several skilled river engineers. What he lacked in formal education, he compensated with self-study, and he developed into our first watercourse engineer. In 1846 he had turned 60, his health failed, and he had to quit the sawmillers' service. The collaboration had not only been idyllic, Engebret Soot could be headstrong and difficult to manage. But there was no doubt about the great importance he had had as an administrator and for technical improvements in the watercourse. This was marked by the fact that when he quit, he received a pension corresponding to half his salary, which was unusual at the time. During his time as float inspector, the quantity of floats in the waterway more than doubled, and this can largely be attributed to his efforts.

 

But Engebret Soot's career did not end when he retired at the age of 60. After recovering and helping his successor, he began planning and building the Grasmokanalen with the country's first lock system and one of the first railways in the country. With the Grasmokanalen, which was completed in 1849, the timber was transported from Skjervangen in the Mangenvassdraget across the watershed to Gulltjern in the Haldenvassdraget. The canal system is 7.1 kilometers long, and the timber was lifted 60 m (above the watershed between the watercourses). From the beginning, the capacity of the plant was approximately 17,000 cubic meters a year, in 1902, a good 37,000 cubic meters were transported through the canal. Engebret Soot and his sons owned and operated the plant until 1869, when it was sold to the Saugbrugsforeningen. Engebret Soot had now become a famous and recognized river engineer, and he was in demand from all corners of the country. Alongside the work to build and operate the Grasmokanalen, he took on assignments over large areas as a consultant. Among other things, he participated in and investigated a channelization of Glomma up in Mjøsa, and he was involved in the Gudbrandsdalslågen, the Skiensvassdraget and the Arendalsvassdraget.

 

Engebret Soot ended his career by taking the initiative to start the construction of the Haldenkanalen. He was the driving force in the investigation work, and he personally led the first expansion of Stenselva with the lock systems at Brekke and Krappeto. After the first development of the Stenselv Canal was completed in 1853, he retired to his property at Strømsfoss. In 1854 he was received in audience with King Oscar I and received the Borgerdaadsmedaljen. Engebret Soot died at home in Strømsfoss in 1859.

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No man has been as important to the Halden Canal as Engebret Soot. But he was not just a local figure. By the author Jonas Lie, he and Ole Bull were referred to as the century's two great natural geniuses.

​

The new SOOT game is not only a story about one of Norway's greatest men, but also a story about love, betrayal, forgiveness and reconciliation.

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Text: Prepared by Harald Solberg on behalf of Haldenvassdragets Kanalselskap and Haldenkanalen Regionalpark.