The Alten Strom, in the sea resort of Warnemünde

The Royal Canal in Ireland

Canals are artificial channels for water. Warnemünde (vaʁnəˈmʏndə meaning Warnow mouth is a sea resort and district of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, situated on the Baltic Sea in the The Royal Canal (An Chanáil Ríoga is a canal originally built for freight and passenger transportation from the River Liffey at Dublin to the River Shannon There are two types of canals: irrigation canals, which are used for the delivery of water, and waterways, which are navigable transportation canals used for passage of goods and people, often connected to existing lakes, rivers, or oceans. Irrigation is an artificial application of water to the soil usually for assisting in growing crops A waterway is any navigable Body of water. These include Rivers Lakes Seas Oceans and Canals In order for a waterway Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one place to another A lake (from Latin lacus) is a Terrain feature (or Physical feature) a body of Liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the "Riverine" redirects here For the use of that term in Maritime geography, see there An ocean (from Greek, ''Okeanos'' (Oceanus) is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the Hydrosphere. For canals used for water supply, see Aqueduct. An aqueduct is an artificial channel that is constructed to convey water from one location to another

Types of artificial waterways

Some canals are part of an existing waterway. This is usually where a river has been canalised : making it navigable by widening and deepening some parts (by dredging and/or weirs), and providing locks with "cuts" around the weirs or other difficult sections. River engineering is the process of planned human intervention in the course characteristics or flow of a River with the intention of producing some defined benefit WEIR (1430 AM) is a Radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format In France, these are called lateral canals and in the UK they are generally called navigations and the length of the artificial waterway often exceeds the natural. Smaller transportation canals can carry barges or narrowboats, while ship canals allow sea-going ships to travel to an inland port (eg Manchester Ship Canal, or from one sea or ocean to another (Caledonian Canal, Kiel Canal). BARGE, the Big August RecGambling Excursion is a yearly convention held in Las Vegas during the first weekend of August A narrowboat or narrow boat is a Boat of a distinctive design made to fit the narrow Canals of England and Wales. A ship canal is a Canal especially constructed to carry Ocean -going Ships as opposed to Barges Ship canals can be enlarged barge canals A ship /ʃɪp/ is a large vessel that floats on water Ships are generally distinguished from Boats based on size The Manchester Ship Canal is a wide long river navigation in North West England, opened on 21 May 1894 The Caledonian Canal in Scotland connects the Scottish east coast at Inverness with the west coast at Corpach near Fort William. The Kiel Canal (Nord-Ostsee-Kanal until 1948 known as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal, is a 61 miles (98 kilometres long Canal in the German Bundesland

History

Ancient canals

The Grand Canal of China at Suzhou

The oldest-known canals were built in Mesopotamia circa 4000 BC, in what is now modern-day Iraq and Syria. Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية The Indus Valley Civilization in Pakistan and North India (from circa 2600 BC) had a sophisticated canal irrigation system. The Indus Valley Civilization (Mature period 2600&ndash1900 BCE abbreviated IVC, was an ancient Civilization that flourished in the Indus River basin Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and Geography Northern India lies mainly on continental India and a very small part of it lies on the Indian peninsula Irrigation is an artificial application of water to the soil usually for assisting in growing crops Agriculture was practiced on a large scale and an extensive network of canals was used for the purpose of irrigation. Sophisticated irrigation and storage systems were developed, including the reservoirs built at Girnar in 3000 BC. Girnar (also known as "Girnar Hill" is a collection of mountains in the Junagadh District of Gujarat, India. ^[1] 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. Pepi I Meryre (reigned 2332 &ndash 2283 BC was the third king of the Sixth dynasty of Egypt. Aswan (formerly spelled Assuan (in standard أسوان Aswān) Egyptian: Swenet ( trade) Coptic: Swān; Greek ^[2] In ancient China, large canals for river transport were established as far back as the Warring States (481-221 BC), 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. Chinese civilization originated in various city-states along the Yellow River ( valley in the Neolithic era The Warring States Period ( also known as the Era of Warring States covers the period from some time in the 5th century BC to the unification of China by the See also History An historian is an individual who studies and writes about History, and is regarded as an Authority on it Early life and education Sima Qian was born and grew up in Longmen, near present-day Hancheng Shaanxi. ^[3] By far the longest canal was the Grand Canal of China, still the longest canal in the world today. The Grand Canal of China ( also known as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal ( is the longest ancient Canal or artificial River in the world It is 1794 kilometres (1115 miles) long and was built to carry the Emperor Yang Guang between Beijing and Hangzhou. Background Yang Guang was born in 569 during the reign of Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou. ( Postal map spelling: Hangchow) is a Sub-provincial city located in the Yangtze River Delta in the People's Republic of China, 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 is rarely less than 30 m (100 ft) wide.

The Romans also built canals such as Foss Dyke which was constructed in around 120 AD in Britain. The Foss Dyke, or Fossdyke, may be the oldest Canal in England which is still in use

Canals in the Middle Ages

The Naviglio Grande near Milan was the first artificial canal in Medieval Europe and the most important of the lombard “navigli”; it was one of the largest medieval engineering projects, allowing development of commerce, transport and agriculture. The Naviglio Grande is a Canal in Lombardy, northern Italy, joining the Ticino river near Tornavento (23 km south of Sesto Calende) to the The navigli was a system of navigable and interconnected Canals centred around Milan in Lombardy Northern Italy. In fact canal building was revived in this age because of commercial expansion from the 12th century AD. River navigations were improved progressively by the use of single, or flash locks. Early locks were designed with a single gate known as a flash lock. 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 10th century AD in China and in Europe in 1373 in Vreeswijk, Netherlands. This article is about a type of structure For other locational uses see Milldam. A pound lock is type of lock that is used almost exclusively nowadays on Canals and Rivers A pound lock has a chamber (the pound) with For the Dutch-Swedish musician see Cornelis Vreeswijk Vreeswijk is a former village and municipality in the Dutch province of ^[4] Another important development was the mitre gate which was probably introduced in Italy by Bertola da Novate in the sixteenth century. This allowed wider gates and also removed the height restriction of guillotine locks. A guillotine lock is a type of Canal lock. The lock itself operates on the same principle as any normal Pound lock, but is unusual in that each gate is a single

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. A summit level canal is an artificial waterway connecting two separate river valleys The Grand Canal of China ( also known as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal ( is the longest ancient Canal or artificial River in the world The Elbe-Lübeck Canal (also known as "Elbe-Trave Canal" is an artificial waterway in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The first to use pound locks was the Briare Canal connecting the Loire and Seine catchment areas in France (1642) followed by the more ambitious Canal du Midi (1683) connecting the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. The Canal de Briare is one of the oldest Canals in France. It is the first summit level canal in Europe that was built using Pound locks connecting the Loire ( Arpitan: Lêre, Occitan: Léger) is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the The Seine (sɛn in French) is a slow flowing major River and commercial waterway within the regions of Île-de-France and Haute-Normandie The Canal du Midi or Canal des Deux Mers ( Occitan: Canal de las Doas Mars / Canal del Miègjorn) is a 240 km long canal in the south of France This included a staircase of 8 locks at Béziers, a 157 m tunnel and three major aqueducts. An aqueduct is an artificial channel that is constructed to convey water from one location to another

Canal building progressed steadily in Germany in the 17th and 18th centuries with three great rivers, the Elbe, Oder and Weser being linked by canals. The Elbe ( die Elbe Low German: de Ilv) is one of the major Rivers of Central Europe. The Oder (known in Czech and Polish as Odra) is a River in Central Europe. The Weser (ˈveːzɐ is a River in north-western Germany. Formed at Hann In post-Roman Britain, the first canal built appears to have been the Exeter Canal, which opened in 1563. The Exeter Canal, downstream of Exeter, Devon, England was built in 1563 which means it pre-dates the " canal mania " period and is one of the oldest

The oldest canal built for industrial purposes in North America is Mother Brook in Dedham, MA. Mother Brook is the modern name for a stream that flows from the Charles River in Dedham Massachusetts, to the Neponset River in the Hyde Park It was constructed in 1639 to provide water power for mills. In Russia, a nationwide canal system connecting the Baltic and Caspian seas via the Neva and Volga rivers was opened in 1718^[5]. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending The Baltic Sea is a Brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N Latitude and from 20°E to 26°E Longitude. The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged Sea.

But the greatest stimulus to canal systems came from the Industrial Revolution with its need for cheap transport of raw materials and manufactured items. The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the

Industrial revolution

US canals circa 1825

See also: History of the British canal system

In Europe, particularly Britain, to some extent in Ireland, and then in the young United States and the Canadian colonies, inland canals preceded the development of railroads during the earliest phase of the Industrial Revolution. The British Canal system of Water transport played a vital role in the United Kingdom 's Industrial Revolution at a time when Roads The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the The opening of the Bridgewater Canal in 1761 which halved the price of coal in Manchester triggered a period of "canal mania" in Britain so that between 1760 and 1820 over one hundred canals were built. The Bridgewater Canal is a Canal in North West England, connecting Runcorn, Manchester, and Leigh.

In the United States, Navigable canals reached into isolated areas and brought them in touch with the world beyond. By 1825 the Erie Canal, 363 miles (584 km) long with 82 locks, opened up a connection from the populated Northeast to the fertile Great Plains. The Erie Canal is a popular canal in New York state from the Hudson River to Lake Erie, approximately 360 miles connecting the Great Lakes The Great Plains are the broad expanse of Prairie and Steppe which lie east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada The Blackstone Canal in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, fulfilled a similar role in the early industrial revolution between 1828-1848. The Blackstone Valley or Blackstone River Valley is a region of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The Blackstone Valley was considered the 'birthplace' of the American Industrial Revolution where Samuel Slater built his first mill. The Blackstone Valley or Blackstone River Valley is a region of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

In addition to their transportation purposes, parts of the United States, particularly in the Northeast, had enough fast-flowing rivers that water power was the primary means of powering factories (usually textile mills) until after the American Civil War. The Northeast is a region of the United States. As defined by the U Hydropower, hydraulic power or water power is power that is derived from the Force or Energy of moving water which may Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South For example, Lowell, Massachusetts, considered to be "The Cradle of the American Industrial Revolution," has 6 miles (9. Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. As of the 2000 census the city had a total population of 105167 7 km) of canals, built from around 1790 to 1850, that provided water power and a means of transportation for the city. The output of the system is estimated at 10,000 horsepower [1]. Other cities with extensive power canal systems include Lawrence, Massachusetts, Holyoke, Massachusetts, and Manchester, New Hampshire. Lawrence is a city in Essex County Massachusetts, United States on the Merrimack River. Manchester is the largest city in the US state of New Hampshire and the largest city of northern New England, an area composed of Vermont,

The 19th century

Competition from the railway network from the 1830s, and later the roads, made the smaller canals obsolete for commercial transportation, and most of the British canals fell into decay. Only the Manchester Ship Canal and the Aire and Calder Canal bucked this trend. The Manchester Ship Canal is a wide long river navigation in North West England, opened on 21 May 1894 The Aire and Calder Navigation is a River and Canal system of the River Aire and the River Calder in the Metropolitan county of But in other countries canals grew in size as construction techniques improved. During the 19th century in the US, the length of canals grew from 100 miles (160 km) to over 4,000, with a complex network making the Great Lakes navigable, in conjunction with Canada, although some canals were later drained and used as railroad rights-of-way. The Laurentian Great Lakes are a chain of freshwater lakes located in eastern North America, on the Canada–United States border. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page A right-of-way is a strip of land that is granted – through an Easement or other mechanism – for Transportation purposes such as for a Rail line or

In France, a steady linking of all the river systems—Rhine, Rhône, Saône and Seine—and the North Sea was boosted in 1879 by the establishment of the Freycinet gauge, which specified the minimum size of locks. The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge The Rhone, or the Rhône is one of the major Rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France. The Saône (son ( Sona in Arpitan) is a River of eastern France. The Seine (sɛn in French) is a slow flowing major River and commercial waterway within the regions of Île-de-France and Haute-Normandie The Freycinet gauge (gabarit Freycinet is a standard governing the dimensions of the locks of some canals put in place as a result of a law passed during the tenure of Canal traffic doubled in the first decades of the 20th century.

Many notable sea canals were completed in this period, starting with the Suez Canal (1869), and the Kiel Canal (1897), which carries tonnage many times that of most other canals, though the Panama Canal was not opened until 1914. The Suez Canal is a Canal in Egypt. Opened in 1869 it allows Water transportation between Europe and Asia without circumnavigation The Kiel Canal (Nord-Ostsee-Kanal until 1948 known as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal, is a 61 miles (98 kilometres long Canal in the German Bundesland The Panama Canal is a man-made Canal in Panama which joins the

In the 19th century, a number of canals were built in Japan including the Biwako canal and the Tone canal. These canals were partially built with the help of engineers from the Netherlands and other countries. ^[6]

Modern uses

Large scale ship canals such as the Panama Canal and Suez Canal, and the smaller Manchester Ship Canal, continue to operate for cargo transportation; as do European barge canals. The Panama Canal is a man-made Canal in Panama which joins the The Suez Canal is a Canal in Egypt. Opened in 1869 it allows Water transportation between Europe and Asia without circumnavigation The Manchester Ship Canal is a wide long river navigation in North West England, opened on 21 May 1894 Due to globalization, they are becoming increasingly important, resulting in expansion projects such as the Panama Canal expansion project. Globalization (or globalisation) in its literal sense is the process of transformation of local or regional phenomena into global ones The Panama Canal Expansion, or--> Third Set of Locks Project is a Megaproject that will expand the Panama Canal.

The narrow early industrial canals however have ceased to carry significant amounts of trade and many have been abandoned to navigation, but may still be used as a system for transportation of untreated water. In some cases railways have been built along the canal route, an example being the Croydon Canal. The Croydon Canal ran 925 miles The Croydon Canal linked to the Croydon Merstham and Godstone Railway (itself connected to the Surrey Iron Railway) enabling

A movement that began in Britain and France to use the early industrial canals for pleasure boats has spurred rehabilitation of stretches of historic canals. In some cased abandoned canals such as the Kennet and Avon Canal have been restored and are now used by pleasure boaters. The Kennet and Avon Canal is a Canal in southern England The name may refer to either the route of the original Kennet and Avon Canal Company, which linked the

The Seine-Nord Europe Canal is being developed into a major transportation waterway, linking France with Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. The Seine-Nord Europe Canal is a high capacity water transportation system currently in development with construction set to begin in 2008 This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands

Canals have found another use in the 21st century, as wayleaves along the towing paths for fibre optic telecommunications networks. For railroad track easement see Track transition curve. An easement is the right or freedom to do something or the right to prevent An optical fiber (or fibre) is a Glass or Plastic fiber that carries Light along its length

Features

The flight of 16 locks at Caen Hill on the Kennet and Avon Canal, Wiltshire, England

At their simplest canals consists of a trench filled with water. Caen Hill Locks are a flight of locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal, at Devizes, Wiltshire England. The Kennet and Avon Canal is a Canal in southern England The name may refer to either the route of the original Kennet and Avon Canal Company, which linked the Etymology The county formerly 'Wiltonshire' or 'Wiltunscir' (9th century is named after the former county town of Wilton (itself named after the River Wylye England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Depending on 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 this is known as puddling. Puddle is a watertight (low Hydraulic conductivity) material based on clay used in building and maintaining Canals or Reservoirs Puddling is the

Canals need to be flat 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 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. A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal Waterways. 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 984AD in China by Chhaio Wei-Yo^[7] and later in Europe in the 15th century either flash locks consisting of a single gate were used or ramps sometimes equipped with rollers were used to change level. A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal Waterways. Flash locks were only practical where there was a large amount of water available.

Locks use a lot of water so some builders have adopted other approaches. These include boat lifts which use 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. A boat lift, ship lift, or lift lock is a machine for transporting boats between water at two different elevations and is an alternative to the Canal lock An inclined plane is a system used on some Canals for raising boats between different water levels

To cross a stream or road, the solution is usually to bridge with an aqueduct. An aqueduct is an artificial channel that is constructed to convey water from one location to another To cross a wide valley (where the journey delay caused by a flight of locks at either side would be unacceptable) the centre of the valley spanned by a very long aqueduct - a famous example in Wales is the Pontcysyllte aqueduct across the valley of the River Dee. An aqueduct is an artificial channel that is constructed to convey water from one location to another The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct ˌpɔntkəˈsʌɬtɛ (and approximately pronounced "pont-kuss-uth-tay" is a navigable Aqueduct that carries the Llangollen Canal

Another option when dealing with hills is to tunnel through them. An example of this approach is the Harecastle Tunnels on the Trent and Mersey Canal. Harecastle Tunnel is a Canal Tunnel on the Trent and Mersey Canal. The Trent and Mersey Canal is a 935 miles (150 km long Canal in the East Midlands West Midlands and North West of England Tunnels are only practical for smaller canals.

For moving cargos between land and boats, cranes are the most common method.

Cities on water

Tourist boats, also known as canal-bus, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Canals are so deeply identified with Venice that many canal cities have been nicknamed "the Venice of. Amsterdam (pronounced) is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the . . " The city is built on marshy islands, with wooden piles supporting the buildings, so that the land is man-made rather than the waterways. The islands have a long history of settlement, and by the 12th century Venice was a powerful city state. A city-state is a Region controlled exclusively by a City, usually having Sovereignty.

Amsterdam was built in a similar way, with buildings on wooden piles. Amsterdam (pronounced) is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west The pace of draining of fenland and polder in the Low Countries quickened in the 14th century and canalization made the village of Amsterdam a port. A polder is a low-lying tract of land enclosed by embankments known as dikes, that forms an artificial hydrological entity meaning it has no connection with The Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the countries on low-lying land around the delta of the Rhine, Scheldt It became a city around 1300.

Other cities with extensive canal networks include: Brugge in Flanders, Birmingham, in England, Saint Petersburg in Russia, and Hamburg in Germany. Bruges (Brugge is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. Flanders (Vlaanderen Flandre Flandern is a geographical region located in parts of present day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Hamburg (English, German: ˈhambʊɐk local pronunciation Low German / Low Saxon: Hamborg) is the second-largest city in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe.

Canal estates are a form of subdivision popular in cities like Miami, Florida and the Gold Coast, Queensland; the Gold Coast has over 700 km of residential canals. Subdivision is the act of dividing land into pieces that are easier to sell or otherwise develop usually via a Plat. This article is about the Australian city Gold Coast For other uses see Gold Coast. Wetlands are difficult areas upon which to build housing estates, so dredging part of the wetland down to a navigable channel provides fill to build up another part of the wetland above the flood level for houses. A wetland is an area of Land consisting of Soil that is Saturated with Moisture, such as a Swamp, Marsh, or Bog Dredging is an Excavation activity or operation usually carried out at least partly underwater in shallow seas or Fresh water areas with the purpose of A body of water such as a River, Canal or Lake, is navigable if it is deep wide and slow enough for a vessel to pass and there are no obstructions like Land is built up in a finger pattern that provides a suburban street layout of waterfront housing blocks. This practice is not popular with environmentalists. Environmentalism is a broad philosophy and Social movement centered on a concern for the conservation and improvement of the environment.

Boats

Two Panamax in the Miraflores Locks on the Panama Canal

Inland canals have often have had boats specifically built for them. " Panamax " ships are of the maximum dimensions that will fit through the locks of the Panama Canal. Miraflores is the name of one of the three locks that form part of the Panama Canal and the name of the small lake that separates these locks from the Pedro Miguel The Panama Canal is a man-made Canal in Panama which joins the An example of this is the British narrowboat which is up to 72 feet (22 m) long and 7 feet (2. A narrowboat or narrow boat is a Boat of a distinctive design made to fit the narrow Canals of England and Wales. 1 m) wide was primarily built for British Midland canals. In this case the limiting factor was the size of the locks. The size of the locks is also the limiting factor on the Panama canal where Panamax boats are limited to a length of 294. " Panamax " ships are of the maximum dimensions that will fit through the locks of the Panama Canal. 1 metres and a width of 32. 3 metres. For the lockless Suez Canal the limiting factor for Suezmaxes is generally draft which is limited to 16 metres. The Suez Canal is a Canal in Egypt. Opened in 1869 it allows Water transportation between Europe and Asia without circumnavigation Suezmax is a Naval architecture term for the largest ships capable of transiting the Suez Canal fully loaded and is almost exclusively used in reference to At the other end of the scale tub-boat canals such as the Bude Canal were limited to boats of under 10 tons for much of their length due to the capacity of their inclined planes or boat lifts. The Bude Canal was a Canal built to serve the hilly hinterland in the Devon and Cornwall border territory in the United Kingdom, chiefly Most canals have a limit on height imposed either by bridges or tunnels.

Gallery

Rio de la Verona: a rio or small canal in Venice	Bruges	Canal du Centre (Belgium)	The Pawtucket Canal during a flood of the Merrimack River at Lowell, Massachusetts
Map of Lowell's power canal system	Irrigation canal outside Tucumcari, New Mexico	Bridges over Canal, Amsterdam	A stretch on the Calder and Hebble Navigation, England

Lists of Canals

Amsterdam gracht

• List of waterways
• Americas
  • Canals of Canada
  • List of canals in the United States
• Europe
  • List of canals in France
  • List of canals in Germany
  • Canals of Ireland
  • Canals of Great Britain

See also

• Aqueduct
• Barge (includes canal boats)
• Channel
• Horse-drawn boat
• List of navigation authorities in the United Kingdom
• lock
• Martian canal
• Navigation authority
• Sluice
• Volumetric flow rate
• Water bridge
• Waterway restoration
• Water transportation
• Weigh lock

Notes

References

• Needham, Joseph (1986). The Volga-Baltic Waterway, formerly known as the Mariinsk Canal System (Russian Мариинская водная система is a series of Canals and Rivers Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Part 3. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.

External links

• Leeds Liverpool Canal Photographic Guide
• Information and Boater's Guide to the New York State Canal System
• "Canals and Navigable Rivers" by James S. Aber, Emporia State University
• National Canal Museum (USA)
• Canals in Amsterdam
• Canal du Midi
• Canal des Deux Mers
• Canal flow measurement using a sensor.