102-462: The Lagan Canal was a 44-kilometre (27 mi) canal built to connect Belfast to Lough Neagh . The first section, which is a river navigation, was opened in 1763, and linked Belfast to Lisburn . The second section from Lisburn to Lough Neagh includes a small amount of river navigation, but was largely built as a canal. At its peak it was one of the most successful of the Irish canals, but ultimately it
204-534: A caisson of water in which boats float while being moved between two levels; and inclined planes where a caisson is hauled up a steep railway. To cross a stream, road or valley (where the delay caused by a flight of locks at either side would be unacceptable) the valley can be spanned by a navigable aqueduct – a famous example in Wales is the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (now a UNESCO World Heritage Site ) across
306-504: A drainage divide atop a ridge , generally requiring an external water source above the highest elevation . The best-known example of such a canal is the Panama Canal . Many canals have been built at elevations, above valleys and other waterways. Canals with sources of water at a higher level can deliver water to a destination such as a city where water is needed. The Roman Empire 's aqueducts were such water supply canals. The term
408-415: A "cistern", or depressed area just downstream from the fall, to "cushion" the water by providing a deep pool for its kinetic energy to be diffused in. Vertical falls work for drops of up to 1.5 m in height, and for discharge of up to 15 cubic meters per second. The transport capacity of pack animals and carts is limited. A mule can carry an eighth-ton [250 pounds (113 kg)] maximum load over
510-496: A canal has a series of dams and locks that create reservoirs of low speed current flow. These reservoirs are referred to as slack water levels , often just called levels . A canal can be called a navigation canal when it parallels a natural river and shares part of the latter's discharges and drainage basin , and leverages its resources by building dams and locks to increase and lengthen its stretches of slack water levels while staying in its valley . A canal can cut across
612-650: A canal. John Longbotham was engaged to survey a route. Two groups were set up to promote the scheme, one in Liverpool and one in Bradford. The Liverpool committee was unhappy with the route originally proposed, following the Ribble valley through Preston , considering that it ran too far to the north, missing key towns and the Wigan coalfield. A counter-proposal was produced by John Eyes and Richard Melling, improved by P.P. Burdett , which
714-413: A combination of the three, depending on available water and available path: Smaller transportation canals can carry barges or narrowboats , while ship canals allow seagoing ships to travel to an inland port (e.g., Manchester Ship Canal ), or from one sea or ocean to another (e.g., Caledonian Canal , Panama Canal ). At their simplest, canals consist of a trench filled with water. Depending on
816-491: A detailed estimate of a distance just less than 109 miles (175 km) built at a cost of £259,777 (equivalent to about £32.67 million as of 2014). The Leeds and Liverpool Canal Act 1770 ( 10 Geo. 3 . c. 114) was passed in May 1770 authorising construction, and Brindley was appointed chief engineer and John Longbotham clerk of works ; following Brindley's death in 1772, Longbotham carried out both roles. A commencement ceremony
918-543: A journey measured in days and weeks, though much more for shorter distances and periods with appropriate rest. Besides, carts need roads. Transport over water is much more efficient and cost-effective for large cargoes. The oldest known canals were irrigation canals, built in Mesopotamia c. 4000 BC , in what is now Iraq . The Indus Valley civilization of ancient India ( c. 3000 BC ) had sophisticated irrigation and storage systems developed, including
1020-593: A new canal below Lisburn, nor to fund the northern route to Lough Neagh, and so construction started on the southern route. The four Union Locks raised boats from the river to a summit level, which followed a course due west, and then turned to the north west to cross the Lagan. The aqueduct cost £3,000 and took nearly three years to build. Progress was much slower than expected, but Aghalee was reached in March 1792, ten years after Owen began work. Initially, goods were transferred between
1122-646: A profit, and when the Exchequer Bill Loan Commissioners refused to make a loan to fund the work, the likelihood of a new canal at the lower end receded. In the 1820s and 1830s, there was competition on short-haul traffic from the road network, but it was hoped that the construction of the Ulster Canal , linking Lough Neagh to Lough Erne and the River Shannon , would create long-haul traffic. The Directors General of Inland Waterways were replaced by
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#17328385990331224-575: A rather low gradient for its time. The canal is still in use after renovation. In the Middle Ages , water transport was several times cheaper and faster than transport overland. Overland transport by animal drawn conveyances was used around settled areas, but unimproved roads required pack animal trains, usually of mules to carry any degree of mass, and while a mule could carry an eighth ton, it also needed teamsters to tend it and one man could only tend perhaps five mules, meaning overland bulk transport
1326-549: A tunnel at Foulridge , lowering the proposed summit level by 40 feet (12 m), using a more southerly route in Lancashire. These proposals were authorised by a fresh act of Parliament, the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Act 1790 ( 30 Geo. 3 . c. 65), together with further fund-raising, and in 1791, construction of the canal finally recommenced south-westward from Gargrave, heading toward Barrowford in Lancashire. By this time planning for
1428-453: A uniform altitude. Other, generally later, canals took more direct routes requiring the use of various methods to deal with the change in level. Canals have various features to tackle the problem of water supply. In cases, like the Suez Canal, the canal is open to the sea. Where the canal is not at sea level, a number of approaches have been adopted. Taking water from existing rivers or springs
1530-576: Is 127 miles (204 km) long and crosses the country from Liverpool to Leeds, via East Lancashire and the Pennines. It was generally built with locks 60 ft (18 m) long and 14 ft 3 in (4.34 m) wide. From Liverpool to Appley Locks, the canal runs for 27 miles (43 km) without locks, across the West Lancashire Coastal Plain . The two main side-branches both connect to other waterways. The Rufford Branch links into
1632-422: Is a channel that cuts across a drainage divide , making a navigable channel connecting two different drainage basins . Both navigations and canals use engineered structures to improve navigation: Since they cut across drainage divides, canals are more difficult to construct and often need additional improvements, like viaducts and aqueducts to bridge waters over streams and roads, and ways to keep water in
1734-675: Is presumed, introduced in Italy by Bertola da Novate in the 16th century. This allowed wider gates and also removed the height restriction of guillotine locks . To break out of the limitations caused by river valleys, the first summit level canals were developed with the Grand Canal of China in 581–617 AD whilst in Europe the first, also using single locks, was the Stecknitz Canal in Germany in 1398. In
1836-578: Is rarely less than 30 metres (98 ft) wide. In the 5th century BC, Achaemenid king Xerxes I of Persia ordered the construction of the Xerxes Canal through the base of Mount Athos peninsula, Chalkidiki , northern Greece. It was constructed as part of his preparations for the Second Persian invasion of Greece , a part of the Greco-Persian Wars . It is one of the few monuments left by
1938-418: Is steeper than the desired canal gradient. They are constructed so the falling water's kinetic energy is dissipated in order to prevent it from scouring the bed and sides of the canal. A canal fall is constructed by cut and fill . It may be combined with a regulator, bridge, or other structure to save costs. There are various types of canal falls, based on their shape. One type is the ogee fall, where
2040-448: Is the pound lock , which consists of a chamber within which the water level can be raised or lowered connecting either two pieces of canal at a different level or the canal with a river or the sea. When there is a hill to be climbed, flights of many locks in short succession may be used. Prior to the development of the pound lock in 984 AD in China by Chhaio Wei-Yo and later in Europe in
2142-535: The Aire and Calder Navigation improved links to the east for Leeds, links to the west were limited. Bradford merchants wanted to increase the supply of limestone to make lime for mortar and agriculture using coal from Bradford's collieries and to transport textiles to the Port of Liverpool . On the west coast, traders in the busy port of Liverpool wanted a cheap supply of coal for their shipping and manufacturing businesses and to tap
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#17328385990332244-639: The Elbe , Oder and Weser being linked by canals. In post-Roman Britain, the first early modern period canal built appears to have been the Exeter Canal , which was surveyed in 1563, and open in 1566. The oldest canal in the European settlements of North America, technically a mill race built for industrial purposes, is Mother Brook between the Boston, Massachusetts neighbourhoods of Dedham and Hyde Park connecting
2346-586: The First World War , traffic dropped by half, but after hostilities ended, the government returned the canal to private ownership, some £20,000 was spent on repairs, and traffic flourished. In the 1920s, traffic from Belfast to Lisburn averaged 307,033 tons of coal and 19,126 tons of other goods. Traffic above Lisburn was much lower, but some coal continued to reach the Ulster Canal until it was closed in 1931. There were large cargoes of sand and gravel travelling in
2448-668: The French Revolution , Britain had been at war with France from 1793 to 1802. The peace proved temporary, with the Napoleonic Wars beginning the following year. High taxes and interest rates during this period made it difficult for the company to borrow money, and the pace of construction inevitably slowed. In 1804 Samuel Fletcher also died and his brother Joseph and son James were jointly appointed to replace him and they were provided with Gannow House in Burnley. In 1805 they estimated
2550-642: The Haslingden Canal . The Peel family asked the canal company not to construct the crossing over the River Hyndburn above their textile printworks; such a crossing would have required the construction of embankments, and reduced the water supply to their factories. Consequently, Accrington was bypassed and the Haslingden Canal was never built. Yet more fund-raising took place, as the Foulridge Tunnel
2652-530: The Naviglio Grande built between 1127 and 1257 to connect Milan with the river Ticino . The Naviglio Grande is the most important of the lombard " navigli " and the oldest functioning canal in Europe. Later, canals were built in the Netherlands and Flanders to drain the polders and assist transportation of goods and people. Canal building was revived in this age because of commercial expansion from
2754-532: The Phoenix metropolitan area was the most complex in ancient North America. A portion of the ancient canals has been renovated for the Salt River Project and now helps to supply the city's water. The Sinhalese constructed the 87 km (54 mi) Yodha Ela in 459 A.D. as a part of their extensive irrigation network which functioned in a way of a moving reservoir due to its single banking aspect to manage
2856-613: The River Aire , at Dowley Gap. Also completed was the branch to Bradford . On the western side, the section from Liverpool to Newburgh was dug. By the following year the Yorkshire end had been extended to Gargrave , and by 1777 the canal had joined the Aire and Calder Navigation in Leeds. From Liverpool it had reached Wigan by 1781, replacing the earlier and unsatisfactory Douglas Navigation . By now,
2958-522: The River Brue at Northover with Glastonbury Abbey , a distance of about 1.75 kilometres (1,900 yd). Its initial purpose is believed to be the transport of building stone for the abbey, but later it was used for delivering produce, including grain, wine and fish, from the abbey's outlying properties. It remained in use until at least the 14th century, but possibly as late as the mid-16th century. More lasting and of more economic impact were canals like
3060-594: The Songhai Empire of West Africa, several canals were constructed under Sunni Ali and Askia Muhammad I between Kabara and Timbuktu in the 15th century. These were used primarily for irrigation and transport. Sunni Ali also attempted to construct a canal from the Niger River to Walata to facilitate conquest of the city but his progress was halted when he went to war with the Mossi Kingdoms . Around 1500–1800
3162-605: The Ulster Canal worried the Lagan Navigation Company, as almost no trade passed between the two. This was not helped by the fact that the locks on the Ulster Canal were narrower, and the depth over the cills was less, so that Lagan boats could not work the canal, and goods had to be transshipped. Although the Board of Public Works controlled the Ulster Canal, and had spent £20,000 on it since they took control in 1865, no additional traffic had been generated. Between 1878 and 1880,
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3264-461: The Ulster Railway , which had reached Portadown in 1842, and ploughed all profits back into improvements until 1859, when they announced a first dividend of one per cent. The canal was one of only two inland waterways in the north of Ireland that was commercially successful. Dividends gradually increased, and by the 1870s, traffic figures were more than double those of the 1830s. The condition of
3366-548: The reservoirs built at Girnar in 3000 BC. This is the first time that such planned civil project had taken place in the ancient world. In Egypt , canals date back at least to the time of Pepi I Meryre (reigned 2332–2283 BC), who ordered a canal built to bypass the cataract on the Nile near Aswan . In ancient China , large canals for river transport were established as far back as the Spring and Autumn period (8th–5th centuries BC),
3468-404: The stratum the canal passes through, it may be necessary to line the cut with some form of watertight material such as clay or concrete. When this is done with clay, it is known as puddling . Canals need to be level, and while small irregularities in the lie of the land can be dealt with through cuttings and embankments, for larger deviations other approaches have been adopted. The most common
3570-466: The 12th century. River navigations were improved progressively by the use of single, or flash locks . Taking boats through these used large amounts of water leading to conflicts with watermill owners and to correct this, the pound or chamber lock first appeared, in the 10th century in China and in Europe in 1373 in Vreeswijk , Netherlands. Another important development was the mitre gate , which was, it
3672-465: The 15th century, either flash locks consisting of a single gate were used or ramps, sometimes equipped with rollers, were used to change the level. Flash locks were only practical where there was plenty of water available. Locks use a lot of water, so builders have adopted other approaches for situations where little water is available. These include boat lifts , such as the Falkirk Wheel , which use
3774-645: The Board of Public Works, and although they took control of the Tyrone Navigation in 1831 and the Ulster Canal in 1851, there was local opposition to them taking over the Lagan Canal. The old company was replaced by the Lagan Navigation Company by the Lagan Navigation Act 1843 ( 6 & 7 Vict. c. civ), to ensure that the canal was maintained in good order, but the Board of Public Works supervised its activities quite closely. They successfully competed with
3876-486: The Lagan Canal built five boats which could work through both canals. The Lagan Canal was persuaded to take over the Ulster Canal and the Coalisland Canal or Tyrone Navigation in 1888. Although they spent a great deal on improvements, the additional canals remained in a poor state and continued to make a loss. The Lagan itself was maintained well, and traffic rose from 153,000 tons in 1893 to 170,000 tons in 1898. During
3978-562: The Lancaster Canal between Aspull and Johnson's Hillock. The main line of the canal was thus completed in 1816. There had been various unsuccessful negotiations to connect the canal to the Bridgewater Canal at Leigh but agreement was finally reached in 1818, and embodied in the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Branch and Railway Act 1819 ( 59 Geo. 3 . c. cv) and the connection was opened in 1820, thus giving access to Manchester and
4080-552: The Pennines the Leeds and Liverpool had been beaten by the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and the Rochdale Canal . The most important cargo was always coal, with over a million tons per year being delivered to Liverpool in the 1860s. Even in Yorkshire, more coal was carried than limestone. Once the canal was fully open, receipts for carrying merchandise matched those of coal. The heavy industry along its route, together with
4182-571: The Persian Empire in Europe . Greek engineers were also among the first to use canal locks , by which they regulated the water flow in the Ancient Suez Canal as early as the 3rd century BC. There was little experience moving bulk loads by carts, while a pack-horse would [i.e. 'could'] carry only an eighth of a ton. On a soft road a horse might be able to draw 5/8ths of a ton. But if
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4284-753: The Southwest by 1300 CE. Archaeologists working at a major archaeological dig in the 1990s in the Tucson Basin, along the Santa Cruz River, identified a culture and people that may have been the ancestors of the Hohokam. This prehistoric group occupied southern Arizona as early as 2000 BCE, and in the Early Agricultural period grew corn, lived year-round in sedentary villages, and developed sophisticated irrigation canals. The large-scale Hohokam irrigation network in
4386-635: The area. In 2016, the Trust was renamed to become the Lagan Navigation Trust. As part of the assessment process, a feasibility study was carried out by Fergus and McIlveen of Belfast. It concluded that even though parts of the route have been destroyed by the building of the M1 motorway, there were no insurmountable barriers to restoring the canal, which "has the potential to become one of the most significant recreational waterways in these islands." A small section of
4488-448: The canal and the shore of the lough by road, for the final connection was not completed until December 1793. The Marquess of Donegall opened the canal on 1 January 1794, by travelling from Owen's house at Moira to Lough Neagh by boat. He had funded most of the £62,000 cost himself. The summit level was 11 miles (18 km) long, with a flight of 10 locks, each 70 by 16 feet (21.3 by 4.9 m) at Aghalee, and four at Sprucefield. The canal
4590-431: The canal near Lisburn Civic Centre, which includes lock 12, has been restored to navigable condition, and there are three major sections of towpath which can now be accessed by the public. All of the locks and many of the other structures associated with the canal are scheduled monuments, which gives them some protection. A proposal for a £2.5 million scheme to build a new lock, weir and footbridge at Stranmillis Gateway, at
4692-436: The canal pressure with the influx of water. It was also designed as an elongated reservoir passing through traps creating 66 mini catchments as it flows from Kala Wewa to Thissa Wawa . The canal was not designed for the quick conveying of water from Kala Wewa to Thissa Wawa but to create a mass of water between the two reservoirs, which would in turn provided for agriculture and the use of humans and animals. They also achieved
4794-507: The canal remained open for another four years, but was closed on 1 July 1958. In 1965, some 7.7 miles (12.4 km) of the central section, between Moira and Sprucefield, were destroyed by the building of the M1 motorway along its route. There are proposals to restore the canal, to once again provide a navigable link between Belfast and Lough Neagh. Initially, a steering group was formed, with representatives from local councils, user groups and central government. The Lagan Canal Restoration Trust
4896-482: The canal there were tank traps , bunkers and blockhouses . Some buildings such as barns and pubs along the canal were fortified. There are still some remaining concrete pillboxes and brick built blockhouses. In August 2010, a 60-mile stretch of the canal was closed due to the low reservoirs, following the driest start to the year since records began. It was reopened the following month, although some restrictions remained. The £22 million Liverpool Canal Link
4998-418: The canal to form a dam. They are generally placed in pre-existing grooves in the canal bank. On more modern canals, "guard locks" or gates were sometimes placed to allow a section of the canal to be quickly closed off, either for maintenance, or to prevent a major loss of water due to a canal breach. A canal fall , or canal drop, is a vertical drop in the canal bed. These are built when the natural ground slope
5100-404: The canal would pass, which amounted to one penny per gallon on ale and fourpence on spirits. The tax would last for eleven years from 1753, and on this basis, work began in 1756. The engineer overseeing the project was Thomas Omer, and some 6 miles (9.7 km) of river had been made navigable within the first year. The work included new cuts to remove meandering sections of the river, four locks,
5202-417: The canal, the section between Aghalee and Lough Neagh has been privately owned, and this is the first part of that section where public access has been restored. The project to build a new lock at Stranmillis and to restore lock 2 was restarted in late 2017. The site of the lock is occupied by a pen weir, which maintains the river levels between Stranmillis and Newforge, but it is inefficient, causes erosion of
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#17328385990335304-462: The canal. Where large amounts of goods are loaded or unloaded such as at the end of a canal, a canal basin may be built. This would normally be a section of water wider than the general canal. In some cases, the canal basins contain wharfs and cranes to assist with movement of goods. When a section of the canal needs to be sealed off so it can be drained for maintenance stop planks are frequently used. These consist of planks of wood placed across
5406-463: The channel. There are two broad types of canal: Historically, canals were of immense importance to commerce and the development, growth and vitality of a civilization. In 1855 the Lehigh Canal carried over 1.2 million tons of anthracite coal; by the 1930s the company which built and operated it for over a century ceased operation. The few canals still in operation in our modern age are a fraction of
5508-539: The cities of Leeds and Liverpool . Over a distance of 127 miles (204 km), crossing the Pennines , and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branches, and in the early 21st century a new link was constructed into the Liverpool docks system . In the mid-18th century the growing towns of Yorkshire , including Leeds, Wakefield and Bradford , were trading increasingly. While
5610-521: The company considered closure of their canal and the Coalisland Canal. However, there was a clause in the Lagan Navigation Act 1843 which stated that if the canals became unnavigable, the Lagan Navigation Company would automatically cease to exist. Rather than create an awkward political situation, where the Ministry of Commerce inherited canals that were already defunct, the government made payments to
5712-562: The company to cover operating losses and some repairs to the infrastructure. Between 1938 and 1952, these payments amounted to £130,000. There had been no traffic above Lisburn since 1947, and the Ministry of Commerce announced that the canals would close in the spring of 1954. The Inland Navigation Act (NI) was passed in April 1954, and the Coalisland Canal, the Upper Bann Navigation and the Lagan Canal above Lisburn were closed. Below Lisburn,
5814-577: The competing Rochdale Canal was under way and it was likely to offer a more direct journey to Liverpool via Manchester and the Bridgewater Canal. The same year John Rennie surveyed a branch of the Rochdale between Todmorden and Burnley. In 1794 an agreement was reached with the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal company to create a link near Red Moss near Horwich . The company's experiences running
5916-531: The cost of linking Enfield to Red Moss would be £245,275 and £101,725 for the shorter continuation to Wigan (totalling about £27.36 million in 2014). The planned link with the Manchester, Bolton and Bury did not materialize. The latest plan for the route had it running parallel to, and then crossing the southern section of the Lancaster Canal , but common sense prevailed and the Leeds and Liverpool connected with
6018-621: The decision to build the canal with broad locks, ensured that (unlike the other two trans-Pennine canals) the Leeds and Liverpool competed successfully with the railways throughout the 19th century and remained open through the 20th century. The canal suffered some damage during the Second World War . It was breached when a German bomb fell on it in Bootle . The canal in West Lancashire was part of Britain's defensive plans against invasion. Along
6120-399: The drop follows an s-shaped curve to create a smooth transition and reduce turbulence . However, this smooth transition does not dissipate the water's kinetic energy, which leads to heavy scouring. As a result, the canal needs to be reinforced with concrete or masonry to protect it from eroding. Another type of canal fall is the vertical fall, which is "simple and economical". These feature
6222-483: The final ten locks, passed into private ownership. There is an active campaign to re-open the canal, including reinstatement of the central section. The River Lagan at Moira is only 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from Lough Neagh, the largest inland lake in Britain and Ireland, and the terrain between the two is relatively flat. In 1637, the first suggestions that a navigable link could be constructed were made, but no action
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#17328385990336324-648: The first summit level canal to use pound locks in Europe was the Briare Canal connecting the Loire and Seine (1642), followed by the more ambitious Canal du Midi (1683) connecting the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. This included a staircase of 8 locks at Béziers , a 157 metres (515 ft) tunnel, and three major aqueducts. Canal building progressed steadily in Germany in the 17th and 18th centuries with three great rivers,
6426-402: The freedom to make deliveries well away from rail lined road beds or ditches in the dirt which could not operate in the winter. The longest extant canal today, the Grand Canal in northern China, still remains in heavy use, especially the portion south of the Yellow River . It stretches from Beijing to Hangzhou at 1,794 kilometres (1,115 miles). Canals are built in one of three ways, or
6528-434: The higher waters of the Charles River and the mouth of the Neponset River and the sea. It was constructed in 1639 to provide water power for mills. In Russia, the Volga–Baltic Waterway , a nationwide canal system connecting the Baltic Sea and Caspian Sea via the Neva and Volga rivers, was opened in 1718. Leeds and Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England , linking
6630-422: The load were carried by a barge on a waterway, then up to 30 tons could be drawn by the same horse. — technology historian Ronald W. Clark referring to transport realities before the industrial revolution and the Canal age . Hohokam was a society in the North American Southwest in what is now part of Arizona , United States, and Sonora , Mexico. Their irrigation systems supported the largest population in
6732-412: The longest canal in the world today and the oldest extant one. It is 1,794 kilometres (1,115 mi) long and was built to carry the Emperor Yang Guang between Zhuodu ( Beijing ) and Yuhang ( Hangzhou ). The project began in 605 and was completed in 609, although much of the work combined older canals, the oldest section of the canal existing since at least 486 BC. Even in its narrowest urban sections it
6834-419: The longest one of that period being the Hong Gou (Canal of the Wild Geese), which according to the ancient historian Sima Qian connected the old states of Song, Zhang, Chen, Cai, Cao, and Wei. The Caoyun System of canals was essential for imperial taxation, which was largely assessed in kind and involved enormous shipments of rice and other grains. By far the longest canal was the Grand Canal of China , still
6936-419: The most expensive single item in the whole project. At Burnley, rather than using two sets of locks to cross the shallow Calder valley, Whitworth designed the Burnley Embankment , a 1,350 yards (1,234 m) long and up to 60 feet (18 m) high earthwork. It would also require another 559 yards (511 m) tunnel nearby at Gannow and a sizeable cutting to allow the canal to traverse the hillside between
7038-506: The numbers that once fueled and enabled economic growth, indeed were practically a prerequisite to further urbanization and industrialization. For the movement of bulk raw materials such as coal and ores are difficult and marginally affordable without water transport. Such raw materials fueled the industrial developments and new metallurgy resulting of the spiral of increasing mechanization during 17th–20th century, leading to new research disciplines, new industries and economies of scale, raising
7140-461: The opposite direction, originating on the east Tyrone shores of Lough Neagh, and used for building projects in Belfast. The years immediately before the Second World War saw a collapse in commercial canal traffic. Downstream traffic dropped from 29,000 tons to 600 tons between 1931 and 1941, while upstream traffic dropped from 87,000 tons to 28,000 tons. The canals were thought to be too slow, compared to roads and railways. With their funds exhausted,
7242-406: The output from the industrial regions of Lancashire . Inspired by the effectiveness of the wholly artificial navigation, the Bridgewater Canal opened in 1759–60. A canal across the Pennines linking Liverpool and Hull (by means of the Aire and Calder Navigation) would have obvious trade benefits. A public meeting took place at the Sun Inn in Bradford on 2 July 1766 to promote the building of such
7344-681: The plans, who suggested a new canal section from the Blackstaff river to the second lock, to avoid the tidal section near to Belfast. Owen's and Killaly's ideas formed the basis for the Lagan Navigation Act 1814 ( 54 Geo. 3 . c. ccxxxi), but the proposals to split the navigation channel from the river and to build a reservoir at Broadwater near Aghalee to supply the summit level were never implemented. However, improvements were made, towpaths were created, and traffic increased, although there were still some water supply problems. The canal did not make
7446-582: The pre-railroad days of the industrial revolution, water transport was the gold standard of fast transportation. The first artificial canal in Western Europe was the Fossa Carolina built at the end of the 8th century under personal supervision of Charlemagne . In Britain, the Glastonbury Canal is believed to be the first post-Roman canal and was built in the middle of the 10th century to link
7548-419: The project, but it was evident that using the river was not ideal, as it was subject to flooding in winter, and there was a linen bleaching industry along its course, who objected to the navigation commissioners having control of the flow of the river. In 1768, the engineer Robert Whitworth , who by this time was James Brindley 's chief surveyor and draughtsman, was asked to assess the project. He reported that
7650-611: The removal of shoals, and the construction of a towpath. The Irish Parliament gave additional grants of £4,000 towards the project in 1759 and 1761, and the navigation was completed as far as Lisburn in 1763. A formal opening took place in September, when the Lord Hertford , a 60-ton lighter, loaded with 45 tons of coal and timber, made the journey from Belfast to Lisburn. A small additional section to Sprucefield had been completed by 1765, but work then stopped. Around £40,000 had been spent on
7752-511: The rest of the canal network. The Bridgewater Canal, like most of Brindley's designs was for boats of 72 feet (22 m) length, whereas the Leeds and Liverpool had been designed for broad boats of 62 feet (19 m) length. There was naturally a desire by the longer boats to reach Liverpool and the locks of the westerly end of the canal were extended to 72 feet (22 m) in 1822. James Fletcher continued as engineer until his death in 1844. The canal took almost 50 years to complete; in crossing
7854-867: The river bed, and prevents navigation. The cost has risen to £4 million, which has been provided by Belfast City Council, Ulster Garden Villages, and the Department for Intrastructure. Lock 2 is at Mooreland Meadow, which is in the Lagan Valley Regional Park. The Lagan Towpath 54°36′N 5°54′W / 54.600°N 5.900°W / 54.600; -5.900 Canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation ) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi ). They carry free, calm surface flow under atmospheric pressure , and can be thought of as artificial rivers . In most cases,
7956-542: The river section was not suitable for navigation, and should be replaced by a canal, for which he suggested two routes and a cost of £22,000, and that beyond Sprucefield the navigation should be constructed as a canal, either on the north bank of the Lagan, or on the south, which would involve building an aqueduct at Spencer's Bridge to cross the river. Although attempts were made to raise the necessary finance, and two acts of Parliament were obtained in 1772 and 1774, to give additional powers to local commissioners, no real progress
8058-536: The second lock at Corby Wood. Lock 3 at Newforge has been restored, together with the lock keeper's cottage, with funding provided by the Heritage Fund, the Lottery Partnership Scheme and the Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure. An 1.5-kilometre (0.9 mi) stretch of the towpath has been reopened at Aghagallon, following work by Craigavon Borough Council to obtain access rights. Since the closure of
8160-482: The site of the original first lock, was first suggested in 2005, and an economic appraisal of the scheme was undertaken. The scope was increased, to include restoration of the first 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) of the navigation, as far as Edenberrry, but despite the Ulster Garden Villages Trust offering £1 million to kick-start the project, little progress was made. The project was to include restoration of
8262-480: The standard of living for any industrialized society. Most ship canals today primarily service bulk cargo and large ship transportation industries, whereas the once critical smaller inland waterways conceived and engineered as boat and barge canals have largely been supplanted and filled in, abandoned and left to deteriorate, or kept in service and staffed by state employees, where dams and locks are maintained for flood control or pleasure boating. Their replacement
8364-575: The subscribed funds and further borrowing had all been spent, and work stopped in 1781 with the completion of the Rufford Branch from Burscough to the River Douglas at Tarleton . The war in the American colonies and its aftermath made it impossible to continue for more than a decade. In 1789 Robert Whitworth developed fresh proposals to vary the line of the remaining part of the canal, including
8466-537: The two sections of the canal had shown that coal not limestone would be its main cargo, and that there was plenty of income available from local trade between the settlements along the route. With this in mind in the same year, the route was changed again with a further act of Parliament, the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Act 1794 ( 34 Geo. 3 . c. 94), moving closer to that proposed by Burdett. The Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal company proposed another link from Bury to Accrington. This new link would have been known as
8568-488: The two. It took 5 years to complete this work, with the embankment alone costing £22,000, about £1.55 million in 2014 (comparing the historic opportunity cost of £22,000 in 1801 with 2014). Whitworth died aged 64, on 30 March 1799 and Samuel Fletcher, previously the inspector of works took over as engineer. Once the Burnley work was completed, the canal opened to Enfield near Accrington in 1801. It would be another 9 years until it reached Blackburn only 4 miles away. Following
8670-556: The valley of the River Dee . Another option for dealing with hills is to tunnel through them. An example of this approach is the Harecastle Tunnel on the Trent and Mersey Canal . Tunnels are only practical for smaller canals. Some canals attempted to keep changes in level down to a minimum. These canals known as contour canals would take longer, winding routes, along which the land was
8772-517: The work. The engineer Acheson Johnston estimated that making the River Lagan navigable to Moira and then building a navigable cut to Lough Neagh would cost £20,000. Since 1729, all such work was managed by the Commissioners of Inland Navigation for Ireland, but the funds at their disposal were limited. The canal was therefore funded by imposing an extra tax on alcohol sold in the districts through which
8874-592: Was a logical development of this group, and was formed as a company limited by guarantee in 2008 with representatives from the three councils which administer the areas through which the canal runs, and six other key partners, including the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, the Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure, and the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland . There are also representatives from other groups with an interest in
8976-466: Was also expensive, as men expect compensation in the form of wages, room and board. This was because long-haul roads were unpaved, more often than not too narrow for carts, much less wagons, and in poor condition, wending their way through forests, marshy or muddy quagmires as often as unimproved but dry footing. In that era, as today, greater cargoes, especially bulk goods and raw materials , could be transported by ship far more economically than by land; in
9078-458: Was an option in some cases, sometimes supplemented by other methods to deal with seasonal variations in flow. Where such sources were unavailable, reservoirs – either separate from the canal or built into its course – and back pumping were used to provide the required water. In other cases, water pumped from mines was used to feed the canal. In certain cases, extensive "feeder canals" were built to bring water from sources located far from
9180-485: Was completed in 2009, joining the Leeds and Liverpool Canal with the City Centre. On 11 October 2021 the stretch between Barrowford and Blackburn was closed following a breach in the canal appearing between bridges 109 and 110. Later that month, lock numbers 73 and 80 were among 142 sites across England to receive part of a £35-million grant from the government's Culture Recovery Fund . The Leeds and Liverpool Canal
9282-463: Was gradual, beginning first in the United States in the mid-1850s where canal shipping was first augmented by, then began being replaced by using much faster , less geographically constrained & limited, and generally cheaper to maintain railways . By the early 1880s, canals which had little ability to economically compete with rail transport, were off the map. In the next couple of decades, coal
9384-531: Was held at Halsall , north of Liverpool on 5 November 1770, with the first sod being dug by the Hon. Charles Mordaunt of Halsall Hall. The first section of the canal opened from Bingley to Skipton in 1773. By 1774 the canal had been completed from Skipton to Shipley , including significant engineering features such as the Bingley Five Rise Locks , Bingley Three Rise Locks and the seven-arch aqueduct over
9486-479: Was imported through Belfast and distributed to the communities around the canal and Lough Neagh. A group of businessmen from Belfast took over the canal in 1810. They investigated costs for a new canal section from Belfast to Union Locks. Owen estimated that it would cost £42,425, and an application was made for half of this amount to the Directors General of Inland Navigation. They sent John Killaly to report on
9588-424: Was increasingly diminished as the heating fuel of choice by oil, and growth of coal shipments leveled off. Later, after World War I when motor-trucks came into their own, the last small U.S. barge canals saw a steady decline in cargo ton-miles alongside many railways, the flexibility and steep slope climbing capability of lorries taking over cargo hauling increasingly as road networks were improved, and which also had
9690-575: Was made, and in 1779, the 'Company of Undertakers of the Lagan Navigation' was formed. The Marquess of Donegall was the chief shareholder, and most other members were either landed gentry or drawn from the nobility, and so had considerable financial resources. In June 1782, Richard Owen, who had worked on the construction of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal for ten years agreed to oversee the project for four years. The company had insufficient capital to build
9792-421: Was not as successful as expected. There were problems with water supply on the summit level, because water from the Lagan was needed by the bleaching industry further down the river, and so could not be used indiscriminately. Below Lisburn, there were often problems where excess water during periods of high rainfall washed away the new banks. The Union Locks were not completed, and work continued until 1796, while it
9894-426: Was once used to describe linear features seen on the surface of Mars , Martian canals , an optical illusion. A navigation is a series of channels that run roughly parallel to the valley and stream bed of an unimproved river. A navigation always shares the drainage basin of the river. A vessel uses the calm parts of the river itself as well as improvements, traversing the same changes in height. A true canal
9996-452: Was proving difficult and expensive to dig. The new route took the canal south via the expanding coal mines at Burnley , Accrington and Blackburn , but would require some sizable earthworks to pass the former. The completion in 1796 of the 1,640-yard-long (1,500-metre) Foulridge Tunnel and the flight of seven locks at Barrowford enabled the canal to open to eastern Burnley. At a cost of £40,000 (about £3.65 million in 2014). The tunnel became
10098-418: Was rejected by the Bradford committee as too expensive, mainly because of the valley crossing at Burnley . James Brindley was called in to arbitrate, and ruled in favour of Longbotham's more northerly route, though with a branch towards Wigan, a decision which caused some of the Lancashire backers to withdraw their support, and which was subsequently amended over the course of development. In 1768 Brindley gave
10200-426: Was suggested that Owen had prolonged the work for his own benefit. John Dubourdieu, writing in 1802, concluded that the use of the river was a fatal flaw, and that the navigation would have been much better if the lower section had been built as a canal to the same standard as the upper section. The canal had been planned to enable coal from the east Tyrone coalfields to reach Belfast, but in practice, higher quality coal
10302-598: Was taken at the time. Following the discovery of coal deposits in east Tyrone, which resulted in the construction of the Newry Canal , there was renewed interest, and in 1741 Arthur Dobbs, the Surveyor General, surveyed the route. Another twelve years elapsed before a petition was presented to the Irish House of Commons, which resulted in an act of Parliament (27 Geo. 2. c. 3 (I)) being passed on 24 October 1753 to authorise
10404-534: Was unable to compete with road and rail transport, and the two sections were closed in 1954 and 1958. The central section from Sprucefield to Moira was destroyed by the construction of the M1 motorway in the 1960s. Responsibility for most of its remains passed first to the Department of Agriculture and then to the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure , although the section between Aghalee Bridge and Lough Neagh, including
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