Canal
Encyclopedia : C : CA : CAN : Canal
- For other uses, see Canal (disambiguation)}}}.
Canals are man-made waterways, usually connecting existing lakes, rivers, or oceans. There are two main types of canal: irrigation canals for the delivery of water and transportation canals for passage of goods and people. Some rivers have also been 'channelised' to make them navigable.
Smaller transportation canals can carry barges or narrowboats, while ship canals can accommodate sea-going ships and may connect one ocean to another.
Ancient canals
The oldest-known canals were built in Mesopotamia circa 4000 BC. The Indus Valley Civilization in Pakistan and North India (from circa 2600 BC) had the first canal irrigation system in the world. [link] The longest canal of ancient times was the Grand Canal of China. It is 1794 kilometers (1115 miles) long and was built to carry the Emperor Yang Guang between Beijing and Hangzhou. The project began in 605, although the oldest sections of the canal may have existed since circa 486 BC. In places it is 30 m (100 ft) wide.
Cities on water
Canals are so deeply identified with Venice that many canal cities have been nicknamed "the Venice of..." The city is built on marshy islands, with wooden piles supporting the buildings, so that here it is not so much the waterways which are man-made, as the land. The islands have a long history of settlement, and by the 12th century Venice was a powerful city state.
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Industrial revolution
In Europe and then in the young United States, inland canals preceded the development of railroads during the earliest phase of the Industrial Revolution; some canals were later drained and used as railroad rights-of-way. Navigable canals reached into previously isolated areas and brought them in touch with the world economy. The Erie Canal, for instance, opened up a connection from the populated Northeast to the fertile Great Plains.
The oldest canal built for industrial purposes in North America is Mother Brook in Dedham, MA. It was constructed in 1639 to provide water power for mills. Lowell, Massachusetts, considered to be "The Cradle of the American Industrial Revolution," has 6 miles of canals that provided waterpower and a means of transportation for the city.
Competition from the railroad network made many canals obsolete for commercial transportation, and many fell into decay.
- See also: History of the British canal system
Modern uses
A movement that began in Britain and France to use the picturesque early industrial canals for pleasure boats has spurred rehabilitation of stretches of historic canals.
Canals have found another use in the 21st century, as wayleaves for fibre optic telecommunications networks.
Miscellaneous
For a time in the early 20th century, it was believed that there were many canals on Mars.Famous canals and lists
- List of waterways
- Grand Canal of China - Longest Canal
- Birmingham Canal Navigations- UK
- Birmingham and Fazeley Canal - UK
- Canals of Ireland
- List of canals in the United States
- Canals of the United Kingdom
- Klong
- Suez Canal
- Panama Canal
- Corinth Canal
- Cape Coral, Florida
- Venice
- Amsterdam
- Saimaa Canal - Lappeenranta, Finland
- Welland Canal - Central Canada
- Saint Lawrence Seaway - Quebec, Ontario, Canada
- Erie Canal - New York, U.S.
- Rideau Canal - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Shubie Canal - Nova Scotia, Canada
- Lachine Canal - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
See also
- Water transportation
- Aqueduct
- Canal lock
- Horse-drawn boat
- Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project
- Sluice
- Trade route
- Water bridge
- Waterway restoration
- Weigh lock
External links
- ["Canals and Navigable Rivers" by James S. Aber, Emporia State University]
- [National Canal Museum] Contains many resources related to navigable waterways of the Eastern United States, based outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- [The River Wey and Wey Navigations Community Site] — a non-commercial site of over 120,000 words all about the Wey Navigations and includes information and images related to canals, narrowboats and lock operation
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