Summit level canal
Encyclopedia
A summit level canal is an artificial waterway connecting two separate river valleys. It was an essential step in developing transport systems connecting different parts of a country before the railways or modern road transport.
The first canal to connect rivers across a watershed was the Lingqu Canal
("Magic Canal") in China which connected the Xiang
and Li river
s in 219 BCE for military transport; however this is not usually considered a summit level canal as the summit level was a flat cut and there were originally no locks, though lateral canal
s with locks were added later on the two rivers.
The honour for the first summit level canal therefore goes to the Grand Canal of China
. This was started in the 4th century BCE with major extensions in 329 CE, and used single locks until the tenth century when pound locks were introduced. But it was the rerouting of the canal in the 1280s to shorten the connection to the new capital Beijing
at the start of the Yuan dynasty
, crossing the Yangtse and Yellow river
s, that established it as a summit level canal. It remained into the modern era as the longest canal in the world at 1145 miles (1,842.7 km).
In Europe, the first summit level canal was the Stecknitz Canal
(1390-98) in Germany which connected the Stecknitz river to the Delvenau
, a tributary of the Elbe
, as part of the Old Salt Route
. It used fifteen staunches and had a 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) summit level; the millers only opened the flash lock
s on alternate days.
The first summit canal to use pound locks was the Briare Canal
in France which was completed in 1642. This 55 kilometres (34.2 mi) canal connected the Loire
valley to that of the Seine
to carry the agricultural produce of the Loire to Paris. In many ways it is the ancestor of all modern summit level canals being fed from its reservoir, Étang de la Gazonne
.
But the greatest engineering feat of the seventeenth century was the Canal du Midi
in Southern France opened in 1684, joining the Garonne
, which drains into the Atlantic Ocean
to the Étang de Thau
which leads to the Mediterranean. Its 240 kilometres (149.1 mi) length rises 62.8 metres (206 ft) at the western end and falls 190 metres (623.4 ft) to the east via 103 locks, one tunnel and three major aqueducts. To solve the water supply problem, the engineer Pierre-Paul Riquet
constructed a major dam in the Black Mountains
and constructed a feeder canal approximately 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) long.
The industrial revolution
brought about a huge network of canals in England and other European countries which made summit levels a commonplace. But it took until the end of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century before the great ship canal
s such as the Kiel Canal
and Panama Canal
joined different seas and oceans together.
Germany
England
Scotland
Poland
Panama
The first canal to connect rivers across a watershed was the Lingqu Canal
Lingqu Canal
The Lingqu Canal is located in Xing'an County, near Guilin, in the northeastern corner of Guangxi Province, China. It connects the Xiang River with the Lijiang , which in its turn continues toward the Xijiang), and thus is part of a historical waterway between the Yangtze and the Pearl River...
("Magic Canal") in China which connected the Xiang
Xiang River
The Xiang River , in older transliterations as the Siang River or Hsiang River, is a river in southern China...
and Li river
Li River
Li River can refer to:*Lishui River , a river in Hunan province of China, one of the Yangtze River's four largest tributaries in the province....
s in 219 BCE for military transport; however this is not usually considered a summit level canal as the summit level was a flat cut and there were originally no locks, though lateral canal
Lateral canal
A lateral canal is a canal built along the same right-of-way as an existing stream. Water for the canal is usually provided by the original natural stream. Many French lateral canals have the word latéral as part of their name...
s with locks were added later on the two rivers.
The honour for the first summit level canal therefore goes to the Grand Canal of China
Grand Canal of China
The Grand Canal in China, also known as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is the longest canal or artificial river in the world. Starting at Beijing, it passes through Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the city of Hangzhou...
. This was started in the 4th century BCE with major extensions in 329 CE, and used single locks until the tenth century when pound locks were introduced. But it was the rerouting of the canal in the 1280s to shorten the connection to the new capital Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
at the start of the Yuan dynasty
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
, crossing the Yangtse and Yellow river
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He, formerly known as the Hwang Ho, is the second-longest river in China and the sixth-longest in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through nine provinces of China and empties into...
s, that established it as a summit level canal. It remained into the modern era as the longest canal in the world at 1145 miles (1,842.7 km).
In Europe, the first summit level canal was the Stecknitz Canal
Elbe-Lübeck Canal
The Elbe-Lübeck Canal is an artificial waterway in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It connects the Elbe and Trave rivers, hence constituting an accessway from the Elbe to the Baltic Sea. It is long; the northern terminus is Lübeck, the southern terminus is the town of Lauenburg...
(1390-98) in Germany which connected the Stecknitz river to the Delvenau
Delvenau
Delvenau is a river of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany....
, a tributary of the Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
, as part of the Old Salt Route
Old Salt Route
The Old Salt Route was a medieval trade route in northern Germany, one of the ancient network of salt roads which were used primarily for the transport of salt and other staples...
. It used fifteen staunches and had a 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) summit level; the millers only opened the flash lock
Flash lock
Early locks were designed with a single gate, known as a flash lock or staunch lock. The earliest European references to what were clearly flash locks were in Roman times....
s on alternate days.
The first summit canal to use pound locks was the Briare Canal
Briare Canal
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 and Seine valleys. It is 57km long and is part of the Bourbonnais route from Saint-Mammès on the Seine to Chalon-sur-Saône on the Saône River...
in France which was completed in 1642. This 55 kilometres (34.2 mi) canal connected the Loire
Loire
Loire is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.-History:Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon...
valley to that of the Seine
Seine
The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
to carry the agricultural produce of the Loire to Paris. In many ways it is the ancestor of all modern summit level canals being fed from its reservoir, Étang de la Gazonne
Étang de la Gazonne
Étang de la Gazonne, , is a lake that provides water for the workings of the Canal de Briare.Hugues Cosnier, designer of the canal, planned a 3.25 mile long waterway from the River Trezée to the Gazonne. The Gazonne acted as a reservoir.-References:...
.
But the greatest engineering feat of the seventeenth century was the Canal du Midi
Canal du Midi
The is a long canal in Southern France . The canal connects the Garonne River to the on the Mediterranean and along with the Canal de Garonne forms the Canal des Deux Mers joining the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. The canal runs from the city of Toulouse down to the Étang de Thau...
in Southern France opened in 1684, joining the Garonne
Garonne
The Garonne is a river in southwest France and northern Spain, with a length of .-Source:The Garonne's headwaters are to be found in the Aran Valley in the Pyrenees, though three different locations have been proposed as the true source: the Uelh deth Garona at Plan de Beret , the Ratera-Saboredo...
, which drains into the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
to the Étang de Thau
Étang de Thau
Étang de Thau or Bassin de Thau is the largest of a string of étangs that stretch along the Languedoc-Roussillon, French coast from the Rhône River to the foothills of the Pyrenees which form the border to Spain. It is the second largest lake in France.-Description:It is about 21 km long...
which leads to the Mediterranean. Its 240 kilometres (149.1 mi) length rises 62.8 metres (206 ft) at the western end and falls 190 metres (623.4 ft) to the east via 103 locks, one tunnel and three major aqueducts. To solve the water supply problem, the engineer Pierre-Paul Riquet
Pierre-Paul Riquet
Pierre-Paul Riquet was the engineer and canal-builder responsible for the construction of the Canal du Midi.-Background:...
constructed a major dam in the Black Mountains
Montagne Noire
* Not to be confused with the Montagnes Noires in Brittany.The Montagne Noire is a mountain range in central southern France. It is located at the southwestern end of the Massif Central in the border area of the Tarn, Hérault and Aude departments...
and constructed a feeder canal approximately 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) long.
The industrial revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
brought about a huge network of canals in England and other European countries which made summit levels a commonplace. But it took until the end of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century before the great ship canal
Ship canal
A ship canal is a canal especially constructed to carry ocean-going ships, as opposed to barges. Ship canals can be enlarged barge canals, canalized or channelized rivers, or canals especially constructed from the start to accommodate ships....
s such as the Kiel Canal
Kiel Canal
The Kiel Canal , known as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal until 1948, is a long canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein.The canal links the North Sea at Brunsbüttel to the Baltic Sea at Kiel-Holtenau. An average of is saved by using the Kiel Canal instead of going around the Jutland Peninsula....
and Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
joined different seas and oceans together.
Europe
France- Canal de Briare
- Canal du MidiCanal du MidiThe is a long canal in Southern France . The canal connects the Garonne River to the on the Mediterranean and along with the Canal de Garonne forms the Canal des Deux Mers joining the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. The canal runs from the city of Toulouse down to the Étang de Thau...
- Canal du Rhône au Rhin
- Canal du CentreCanal du CentreCanal du Centre may mean:*Canal du Centre *Canal du Centre...
- Canal de l'Oise à l'AisneCanal de l'Oise à l'AisneThe Canal de l'Oise à l'Aisne is a summit level canal in northern France about 100km NNE of Paris. It connects the Canal latéral à l'Aisne at Abbécourt to the Canal latéral à l'Oise at Bourg-et-Comin...
Germany
- Rhine-Main-Danube CanalRhine-Main-Danube CanalThe Rhine–Main–Danube Canal , located in Bavaria, Germany, connects the Main and the Danube rivers across the European Watershed, running from Bamberg via Nuremberg to Kelheim...
- Kiel CanalKiel CanalThe Kiel Canal , known as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal until 1948, is a long canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein.The canal links the North Sea at Brunsbüttel to the Baltic Sea at Kiel-Holtenau. An average of is saved by using the Kiel Canal instead of going around the Jutland Peninsula....
England
- Trent and Mersey CanalTrent and Mersey CanalThe Trent and Mersey Canal is a in the East Midlands, West Midlands, and North West of England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities—east of Burton upon Trent and west of Middlewich—it is a wide canal....
- Leeds and Liverpool CanalLeeds and Liverpool CanalThe Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , it crosses the Pennines, and includes 91 locks on the main line...
- Grand Union CanalGrand Union CanalThe Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line connects London and Birmingham, stretching for 137 miles with 166 locks...
- Kennet and Avon CanalKennet and Avon CanalThe Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The name is commonly used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the central canal section...
- Rochdale CanalRochdale CanalThe Rochdale Canal is a navigable "broad" canal in northern England, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. The "Rochdale" in its name refers to the town of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, through which the canal passes....
Scotland
- Forth and Clyde CanalForth and Clyde CanalThe Forth and Clyde Canal crosses Scotland, providing a route for sea-going vessels between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde at the narrowest part of the Scottish Lowlands. The canal is 35 miles long and its eastern end is connected to the River Forth by a short stretch of the River...
Poland
- Augustów CanalAugustów CanalThe Augustów Canal is a cross-border canal built in the 19th century in the present-day Podlaskie Voivodeship of northeastern Poland and the Hrodna Voblast of north-western Belarus...
North America
United States- Chesapeake and Delaware CanalChesapeake and Delaware CanalThe Chesapeake and Delaware Canal is a 14-mile long, 450-foot wide and 40-foot deep ship canal that cuts across the states of Maryland and Delaware, in the United States. It connects the waters of the Delaware River with those of the Chesapeake Bay and the Port of Baltimore...
Panama
- Panama CanalPanama CanalThe Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...