6-636: The Corpus Christi Ship Channel is a deep water navigable ship canal located in Corpus Christi, Texas . It is part of the Port of Corpus Christi , managed and controlled by the Corpus Christi Port Authority. The depth of the channel is 45 feet (14 meters). It is used mostly for heavy industry and the export and import of goods. The channel dates back to the 1840s as a mud slough where cowboys hid and watched Comanche braves throw buffalo robes in
12-582: The Great Lakes to the Hudson River . This canal initiated a half-century-long boom of canal building and brought about many new features that allowed canals to be used in different areas previously inaccessible to canals. These features include locks, which allow a ship to move between different altitudes, and puddling , which waterproofed the canal. The standard used in the European Union for classifying
18-671: The 5th century BCE. In the modern era, canals in the United Kingdom are typically associated with the Duke of Bridgewater , who hired the engineer James Brindley and had the first canal (the Bridgewater Canal ) built that ran over a flowing river. In the United States, the canal that brought about an age of canal building was the Erie Canal . It was a long-sought-after canal and connected
24-452: The size being largely dictated by the size of ships in use nearby at the time of construction or enlargement. Ship canals may be constructed for a number of reasons, including: Early canals were connected with natural rivers, either as short extensions or improvements to them. One of the first canals built was the Grand Canal of China , which was developed over a long period starting in
30-568: The thick mud to prevent their horses from sinking. Years later a wooden bridge was constructed over the slough, at the time called Hall's Bayou. Ship canal A ship canal is a canal especially intended to accommodate ships used on the oceans, seas, or lakes to which it is connected. Ship canals can be distinguished from barge canals, which are intended to carry barges and other vessels specifically designed for river and/or canal navigation. Ships capable of navigating large bodies of open water typically have more draft, and are higher above
36-446: The water than vessels for inland navigation. A ship canal therefore typically offers deeper water and higher bridge clearances than a barge canal suitable for vessels of similar length and width constraints. Ship canals may be specially constructed from the start to accommodate ships, or less frequently they may be enlarged barge canals or canalized or channelized rivers . There are no specific minimum dimensions for ship canals, with
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