built in 1765; Royal Canal, Dublin to Torinansburg, Ireland, built after the Grand Canal; Gloucester and Berkeley Canal, Sharpness to Gloucester, 17 miles; Caledonian Canal, crossing Scotland, 17 feet deep; Forth and Clyde Canal, 35 miles long and 10 feet deep; and the Crinan Canal across the peninsula of Kintyre, 12 feet deep. The depth of the great majority of British canals, however, varies from 3½ feet to 5 feet, and many of these are now owned by the railways.
In the United States the construction of the Erie Canal opened up the development of the canal system, which now aggregates upward of 4200 miles, located mostly in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Virginia. The first man who really saw the future of canal communication was George Washington, whose main efforts, however, were directed toward the connection of the Chesapeake and the Ohio River. Canal-building continued active in the United States until about 1837. After this date attention was turned chiefly to railway construction. Space is not available here to trace the development of the canal system of the United States in detail, but the essential facts respecting some of the more important enterprises will be given. In 1793 a canal was built around the rapids of the Connecticut River at South Hadley, Mass., and another, 3 miles long, was built around Turners Falls on the same stream in 1790-96. The canal at South Hadley is interesting as being the first canal built in America, and as having the two levels connected by an incline, up and down which the boats were raised and lowered in a tank or caisson filled with water and propelled by cables operated by water-wheels.
The Erie Canal, connecting the Hudson River at Albany and Troy with Lake Erie at Buffalo, is 363 miles in length. It was begun in 1817 and completed in 1825, at a cost of $7,602,000. Its construction was due chiefly to the foresight and energy of De Witt Clinton. The enterprise was undertaken and carried through by the State of New York, Clinton being Governor during nearly all the period of its progress. As its route lay chiefly through an uninhabited wilderness, it opened for settlement an immense territory. It was subsequently enlarged, and is now 70 feet broad at the surface and 56 feet at the bottom, with a depth of 7 feet, except as hereafter noted. The locks, 72 in number, 57 of which are double, and 15 single, are 110 feet long and 18 feet wide. It is carried by great stone aqueducts across several streams, and in some places it is cut through solid rock. It is supplied with water from Lake Erie for 140 miles from Buffalo to Seneca River. Most of the flow of water is from the west toward the east, the only exception being between Lodi and the Seneca River, where there is a fall westward through five locks. At Rome, a little west of Utica, a supply of water is received from the Black River Canal. Between Rome and Syracuse, water is drawn from Cazenovia Lake and other reservoirs, while at Syracuse the Erie Canal supplies water to the Oswego Canal. Buffalo is 568 feet above the level of the Hudson at Albany, the difference being overcome by locks at various points. The canal has been immensely successful, contributing largely to the growth of New York, Buffalo, and intermediate places, and serving for many years as the great artery of passenger as well as freight traffic between the northeastern sections of the United States and the newly settled States of what was then the West. Light packet boats, drawn by frequent relays of horses, which were made to proceed at a trot, made the trip from Albany to Buffalo in three and a half days. In 1896 it was estimated that the cost of construction and improvements had aggregated $52,540,800. An expenditure of $9,000,000 more for enlargement was authorized by popular vote in that year. Work was begun on this enlargement in the winter of 1896-97 and resumed again during the winter of 1897-98. In the spring of 1898 all of the $9,000,000 had been consumed and only a part of the projected deepening to 9 feet was completed. No further money for continuing the work was forthcoming, and in 1900 an investigation was set on foot to determine the cost and prepare plans for a much greater enlargement which would permit the use of 1000 to 1200 ton boats.
The Illinois and Michigan Canal connects Lake Michigan and the navigable waters of the Illinois River, and allows the passage of vessels from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by using also the Welland Canal, which forms a navigable channel from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. In 1825 it was estimated that the canal, about 100 miles in length, would cost about $700,000. In 1833 new surveys and estimates were made placing the cost of a canal 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep at $4,043,000; but nothing definite was attempted till 1836, when the plan was altered and estimates were made for a canal 60 feet wide at the bottom, and 6 feet deep, costing $8,654,000. Work was commenced in June, 1836, and continued until March, 1841, when it was discontinued for want of available funds. In 1845 an additional $1,800,000 was raised by the sale of lands owned by the canal. It must be here stated that in consequence of a change of plans the entire cost fell within the estimates which had been made, so that at the opening of the canal in April, 1848, the entire expenditure had been $6,170,226. When completed, the eastern terminus joined the south branch of the Chicago River, 5 miles from the mouth of the main stream. A direct line is pursued to the valley of the Des Plaines, the main eastern branch of the Illinois River, a distance of about 8 miles. The canal then traverses the valley to the mouth of the Kankakee River, a distance of 43 miles, passing through the towns of Lockport and Joliet, and receiving water from four feeders—the Calumet, Des Plaines, Du Page, and Kankakee rivers. The canal now follows the valley of the Illinois River to its terminus, La Salle, passing through the towns of Morris and Ottawa, receiving water from Fox River; the whole length being 96 miles. The water at La Salle is 145 feet lower than Lake Michigan, and the descent is accomplished by means of 17 locks, varying in lift from 3½ to 10 feet. The locks are 110 feet long and 18 feet wide, giving passage to boats of 150 tons.
Lake Michigan is also connected with the Mississippi by the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, completed in 1900. (See Chicago Drainage Canal.) This canal, 28 miles in length, was originally designed to carry the drainage of Chicago to the Mississippi instead of to Lake Michigan. It has a minimum depth of 22 feet, a width at the bottom of 160 feet, and a width at
