89-646: The Shropshire Union Canal , sometimes nicknamed the " Shroppie ", is a navigable canal in England. The Llangollen and Montgomery canals are the modern names of branches of the Shropshire Union (SU) system and lie partially in Wales . The canal lies in the counties of Staffordshire , Shropshire and Cheshire in the north-west English Midlands . It links the canal system of the West Midlands , at Wolverhampton , with
178-534: 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
267-504: 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
356-415: 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
445-582: A branch (1841) ran south-west through Newport to connect with the Shrewsbury Canal at Wappenshall Junction . After Nantwich basin, a long sweeping embankment incorporating an aqueduct carries the canal across the main A534 Nantwich-Chester road. The canal then has to climb out of the Cheshire Plain by means of a flight of 15 locks at Audlem . The canal passes through the eastern suburbs of
534-496: 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
623-616: A choice of onward journeys: The Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company was formed in 1846. The Ellesmere and Chester canals had amalgamated in 1813, and the absorption of the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal by the Ellesmere and Chester Company was authorised by an Act of Parliament passed in 1845. A further Act, passed in 1846, changed the name of the company to the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company and authorised
712-413: 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
801-543: 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
890-623: A member of the public leaving open a paddle gate on a lock, allowing water into the section of the canal, and causing it to overflow. After emergency repairs costing £3 million, the Middlewich branch of the canal reopened on 21 December 2018. To promote the interest in, use of, and restoration of parts of the Shropshire Union Canal, the Shropshire Union Canal Society was formed. Today their main restoration activities are on
979-624: A railway although eventually it was decided to construct it as a waterway. The canal starts from Ellesmere Port on the River Mersey traversing the Wirral peninsula to Chester . This stretch, which was completed in 1797, was originally part of the unfinished Ellesmere Canal . The industrial waterway was intended to connect the Port of Liverpool on the River Mersey to the River Severn at Shrewsbury via
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#17328556841661068-575: 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
1157-591: A short canal which would bypass the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal section from Aldersley Junction to Autherley Junction , crossing the Staffordshire and Worcestershire on an aqueduct. The Staffordshire and Worcestershire sent a delegation to meet the group in December 1835, but were unhappy with the outcome. The group introduced a bill to Parliament in February 1836, and when it was due to receive its second reading,
1246-453: 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
1335-500: A year, but continued to manage the canals under its control. The new canal was a significant improvement over the previous route, which used the Trent and Mersey Canal to move goods between Birmingham and Liverpool. From Birmingham to the Mersey, it was 20 miles (32 km) shorter, with 30 fewer locks, while to Manchester, it was 5.25 miles (8.4 km) shorter, again with 30 fewer locks. When
1424-422: 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
1513-486: Is an aqueduct south of Norbury Junction and deep cuttings at Loynton near Woodseaves (Staffordshire) and Grub Street . The canal then continues as the 1-mile-long (1.6 km) Shelmore Embankment. Repeated soil slippage during construction meant that this was the last part of the B&;L Junction Canal to be opened to traffic. The lengthy embankment is equipped with flood gates at both ends to prevent loss of water should
1602-675: 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
1691-578: 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
1780-418: 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
1869-448: 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
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#17328556841661958-631: The Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal Navigation Act 1827 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 4 . c. ii), was obtained for a branch from Norbury Junction to Wappenshall on the Shrewsbury Canal. The Ellesmere and Chester Canal obtained authorisation for their Middlewich branch as a similar time, giving the new canal connections to Manchester and the Potteries. A second contract for the High Offley to Church Eaton section
2047-639: 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
2136-471: The Macclesfield Canal opened, it provided a shorter route to Manchester for boats using the Trent and Mersey, by some 4.75 miles (7.6 km), but the shorter distance was offset by it passing through 50 more locks than the journey using the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal. There was always contention over the compensation toll which the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal charged for using
2225-707: The Montgomery Canal , which is slowly being restored into Wales. The canal in Chester is promoted by Chester Canal Heritage Trust . 53°17′N 2°53′W / 53.283°N 2.883°W / 53.283; -2.883 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,
2314-530: 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
2403-483: The North East Wales Coalfields . However, only eight years after the completion of the contour canal between Netherpool and Chester, the proposed project became uneconomical. This meant the planned 16-mile (26 km) mainline from Chester to Trevor Basin near Wrexham was never constructed. Instead the northern Wirral section was joined to the pre-existing Chester Canal ; eventually becoming part of
2492-532: 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
2581-522: 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
2670-704: The River Mersey and Manchester Ship Canal at Ellesmere Port , Cheshire, 66 miles (106 km) distant. The "SU main line" runs southeast from Ellesmere Port on the River Mersey to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal at Autherley Junction in Wolverhampton. Other links are to the Llangollen Canal (at Hurleston Junction ), the Middlewich Branch (at Barbridge Junction ), which itself connects via
2759-570: The Shrewsbury Canal and even the Upper Avon . Thomas Eyre Lee was the Clerk. The project engineer was Thomas Telford , and work started from the northern end when a contract for the section from Nantwich to High Offley was awarded to John Wilson, with Alexander Easton acting as resident engineer. As progress was made, links to the Donningtonn area and Shrewsbury were considered, and an act of Parliament,
Shropshire Union Canal - Misplaced Pages Continue
2848-594: 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
2937-733: The Wardle Canal with the Trent and Mersey Canal , and the River Dee (in Chester ). With two connections to the Trent and Mersey (via the Middlewich Branch and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal ) the SU is part of an important circular and rural holiday route called the Four Counties Ring . The SU main line was the last trunk narrow canal route to be built in England. It was not completed until 1835 and
3026-548: 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),
3115-404: 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
3204-536: The 'originator and proposer' of the route in January 1825. Faced with competition from a proposed railway line from Birmingham to Liverpool, they sprang into action, and asked their agent, Thomas Eyre Lee, to look at the proposal. The canal would run from Autherley Junction, on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal , close to the end of the Birmingham Canal, and head northwards to Nantwich where it would link up with
3293-466: 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
3382-465: 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
3471-654: The Chester Canal. The two junctions on this stretch are very important links in the English and Welsh connected network. The odd angle between Nantwich basin and the next stretch of the SU shows that the journey southwards is on a newer (and narrow) canal originally constructed as the narrow Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal to connect Nantwich, at the end of the Chester Canal, to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal at Autherley Junction, near Wolverhampton. An important lost link can be seen at Norbury Junction , where
3560-454: The Dee, the SU follows the old Chester Canal built in 1772 to connect Chester and Nantwich. The canal passes alongside the city walls of Chester in a deep, vertical red sandstone cutting. After Chester, there are only a few locks as the canal crosses the nearly flat Chester Plain, passes Beeston Castle, and the junctions at Barbridge and Hurleston and arrives at Nantwich basin, the original terminus of
3649-531: The Ellesmere and Chester Canal started to look at converting their canal to a railway in 1845, and argued that locomotive working on a railway was probably cheaper than using tugs to pull trains of boats on a canal. The project was abandoned soon afterwards, and William Bishton was contracted to supply horse haulage for boats on the canal. Despite its rural character, the canal was an important route for trade between two major centres, and so remained profitable long after many canals had become uneconomic. When most of
Shropshire Union Canal - Misplaced Pages Continue
3738-484: The Exchequer Bill Loan Commissioners. The length of the canal was 39.5 miles (63.6 km) and required 28 locks to drop the 176 ft (53.7m) from Autherley to Nantwich. These were mainly concentrated in flights, with five locks at Tyrley, another five at Adderley, fifteen at Audlem and two at Hack Green. There was a single lock at Wheaton Aston, and a stop lock at Autherley Junction to prevent
3827-571: 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
3916-525: The Shelmore embankment took much longer than expected. Knighton Reservoir had been completed by the end of the year, and work on Belvide Reservoir had begun. The canal was finally finished in 1835, with the section from Autherley to Gnosall opening on 12 January and the rest, including the Newport Branch, opening on 2 March. The total cost was around £800,000, with the extra money coming from shareholders and
4005-753: 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
4094-408: The Staffordshire and Worcestershire caved in, sent a delegation to London to negotiate and agreed a compensation toll of 4 pence per ton, at which point the bill was withdrawn. The threat of an aqueduct was a recurring theme, as it was used again in 1842 to get more water, and subsequently by the Shropshire Union Canal in 1867, when another water agreement was negotiated, together with the reduction of
4183-511: The acquisition of the Shrewsbury Canal and other canals in the east Shropshire network (linking modern-day Telford with the River Severn to the south at Coalport ). Then (in 1847), the latter was taken over by the London and North Western Railway Company, which allowed the Shrewsbury Canal and the branch from Norbury Junction to decline. On 7 September 1945, the bank of the Llangollen branch of
4272-461: The canal be breached in this area. During World War II these locks were kept closed at night because of the risk of bomb damage. At Gnosall the canal enters the 81-yard (74 m) Cowley Tunnel. Originally the tunnel was planned to be 690 yards (630 m) long, but after the rocky first 81 yards (74 m), the ground was unstable, and the remaining length was opened out to form the present narrow and steep-sided Cowley Cutting. At Wheaton Aston,
4361-570: The canal climbs its last lock to reach the summit level, fed by the Belvide Reservoir just north of Brewood . North of the reservoir, the canal passes by Stretton Aqueduct over Watling Street (the A5 road ). The SU terminates at Autherley Junction on the Staffs and Worcester Canal. Immediately before the junction is a very shallow stop lock built to prevent the loss of water to the new rival canal from
4450-481: The canal failed near Sun Bank Halt , Denbighshire . Escaping water washed away a 40-yard (37 m) section of the trackbed of the Ruabon to Barmouth railway line . A Great Western Railway mail and freight train was derailed, killing one person and injuring two others. The train's consist was entirely destroyed in the ensuing fire, with the exception of a brake van . A 70 metres (230 ft) section of northern bank of
4539-508: The canal failed on 16 March 2018 at an aqueduct over the River Wheelock , near Middlewich , leaving 15 to 20 boats stranded on a 1.3 kilometres (0.81 mi) stretch between Wardle Lock and Stanthorne Lock. One boat close to the 12 metres (39 ft) deep hole had to be evacuated, and minor damage to one local's garden was recorded. According to the Canal and River Trust, the breach was caused by
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#17328556841664628-439: The canal from taking water from the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. It was built as a narrow canal, for boats with a maximum width of 7 ft (2.1m). The main supply of water was from the Belvide Reservoir, on the initial section near to where the canal crossed Watling Street (now the A5 road) on an aqueduct. This was not adequate, and so in 1836 it was doubled in size; it now has a capacity of 70 million cubic metres. This
4717-436: 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
4806-418: 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
4895-462: 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
4984-409: 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
5073-431: The company being taken over by the Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company in 1845, and the following year the joint company became the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company, by an act of Parliament which also authorised the taking over of a number of other canals. In 1847, the new Company agreed to the terms of a lease from the London and North Western Railway Company, and so lost its independence after little more than
5162-399: 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
5251-440: 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,
5340-418: The following year. In 1824, the Birmingham Canal was experiencing unprecedented levels of traffic, and asked the civil engineer Thomas Telford to recommend how the canal could be improved. He reported his suggestions in September, and probably also recommended that an additional link northwards from the western end to the River Mersey would be beneficial, since the Birmingham Canal Company described him as
5429-550: The former Chester Canal , by then part of the Ellesmere and Chester Canal, to provide the connection to the Mersey at Ellesmere Port . Support for the new venture was widespread. The Ellesmere and Chester Canal was particularly keen, and co-operation with them would be easy, since Telford was their consulting engineer. The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal stood to loose some traffic, and so negotiated compensation tolls and protection for their water supply. The Trent and Mersey Canal were also concerned about loss of traffic, and
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#17328556841665518-402: 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
5607-417: 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. Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal The Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal
5696-422: 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
5785-412: 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
5874-419: 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
5963-418: The network Shropshire Union. Although the Ellesmere Canal was not completed as intended, the central section of the Ellesmere Canal was built. These sections now form part of the waterways: Llangollen Canal and Montgomery Canal . Both are actually branches of the Shropshire Union mainline, although in modern times they are considered to be separate canals. In Chester, from the top of the arm leading down to
6052-506: 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
6141-413: The other canals in the region, including the Ellesmere and Chester Canal, the Grand Junction Canal , the Warwick Canals, the Coventry Canal , the Grand Union Canal , the Birmingham Canal, the Wyrley and Essington Canal , the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal , the Worcester and Birmingham Canal , the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, the Dudley Canal , the Stourbridge Canal , the Trent and Mersey Canal,
6230-411: 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
6319-432: The preexisting Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal . Unusually, the B&L Junction canal's summit level was designed to be a few inches lower than the older canal, so the newer canal gains a small amount of water each time the lock is cycled (the reverse of the practice usually insisted on by canal companies as a condition for not opposing the construction of a newer one). The link with the Staffs and Worcester provides
6408-504: The proposal spurred them on to start work on their Harecastle Tunnel , which had been authorised in 1823. An act of Parliament , the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal Act 1826 ( 7 Geo. 4 . c. xcv), was obtained for the new line in May 1826, which authorised the company to raise a working capital of £400,000, with an extra £100,000 if required. The committee consisted of members from most of
6497-468: The proprietors to assist, and effectively took over the day-to-day work from Telford as his health continued to decline. The company also faced financial pressures, as by the end of 1831 they had already spent £442,000 on the work. They borrowed £160,000 from the Exchequer Bill Loan Commissioners in November 1831, and another £24,600 in 1832. They were hopeful that the canal would be open by the end of 1832, but
6586-501: The short stretch between the Birmingham Canal and Autherley Junction. This had originally been set at 2 shillings per ton , but they halved this to 1 shilling in 1831, while the new canal was still being built. In an attempt to drive down the charge, a group of men from the Birmingham Canal and the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal proposed the construction of the Tettenhall and Autherley Canal and Aqueduct in mid 1835. This would be
6675-480: 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
6764-587: The toll to 2 pence. Tolls for carriage of goods on the canal were set lower than had been proposed, due to the threat of railway competition. Lime and limestone were set at a half-penny per ton, with everything else being charged at 1 penny per ton. 5,144 boat journeys were recorded during the first half of 1836, carrying 71,405 tons of cargo. This was made up of 22,732 tons of general merchandise, 25,685 tons of iron, 9,631 tons of coal and coke, 4,532 tons of building materials, 8,546 tons of lime and limestone, and 279 tons of road materials, manure, etc. Income from tolls
6853-583: The town of Market Drayton in Shropshire. The canal then passes through Tyrley Locks and enters the Woodseaves Cutting (named after Woodseaves (Shropshire) but also known as Tyrley Canal Cutting), the longest cutting on any canal in Britain. It is about 2.7 km long and up to about 21.3m deep. Further south there are substantial lengths of embankment through the Staffordshire village of Knighton . There
6942-458: 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
7031-695: Was a canal in England which ran from Nantwich, where it joined the Chester Canal , to Autherley, where it joined the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal . Forming part of a major link between Liverpool and the industrial heartlands of the Midlands , the canal was opened in 1835, and merged with the Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company in 1845, which became the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company in
7120-466: 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
7209-458: 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
7298-449: Was awarded to W. A. Provis in 1829, who also became responsible for construction of the Newport Branch to the Shrewsbury Canal. The third contract, for the remainer of the canal from Church Eaton to Autherley, was given to John Wilson, and transferred to W. Wilson after John died. Telford faced a number of engineering problems during construction, including a number of long cuttings through marl, some up to 90 feet (27 m) deep. The rock
7387-463: 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
7476-424: 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
7565-456: Was later supplemented by the outflow from the Barnhurst sewage treatment works which was built near Autherley Junction, to serve the people of Wolverhampton. The company worked closely with the Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company, which owned the canals from Ellesmere Port to Chester and from Chester to Nantwich, in a bid to maintain their profits against competition from the railways. This led to
7654-426: 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
7743-411: Was the last major civil engineering accomplishment of Thomas Telford . The name "Shropshire Union" comes from the amalgamation of the various component companies ( Ellesmere Canal , Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal , Montgomeryshire Canal ) that came together to form the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company . The main line between Nantwich and Autherley Junction was almost built as
7832-426: Was unstable and slippage was a constant problem. He also had to construct a diversion around the game reserves of Lord Anson at Shelmore, which involved an embankment around 1 mile (1.6 km) long and up to 60 feet (18 m) high. By this time his health was failing, but William Provis was a competent contractor, and managed to overcome the difficulties, under the direction of William Cubitt , who had been asked by
7921-517: Was £11,706 in 1836, rising to 30,859 by 1840, and then tailing off a little. The company became authorised to carry passengers and goods in 1842, and could also provide haulage for boats owned by other carriers. The engineer Alexander Easton and the canal superintendend Samual Skey carried out trials in which a steam tug was used to haul trains of boats along the canal. These proved successful, and by late 1843 they had eight steam tugs which were used to haul boats from Autherley to Ellesmere Port. However,
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