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The Elster-Saale Canal (German: Elster-Saale-Kanal), renamed in 1999 by the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration as the Saale-Leipzig Canal (Saale-Leipzig-Kanal) or SLK and on the Halle side also called the Saale-Elster Canal, was a canal project, started in 1933 and aborted in 1943, that was intended to link the White Elster river with the Saale near Leuna and thus enable the city of Leipzig to be joined to Germany's inland waterway network. The 11 kilometre long water-filled channel is one of the so-called special federal waterways.
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Map of Saale-Elster-Kanal, 06237 Leuna, Germany
This link would have given Leipzig access to the Elbe via the Saale and thus to Hamburg and the North Sea. The canal was planned for ships up to 1,000 tonnes in weight (roughly Class IV).
Plans to complete the canal have been revived and an Elster-Saale Canal Society has been formed.