Chapter 11
Inland waterways
11.1 Introduction
Navigation on inland waterways is the oldest mode of continental trans-
port. Although during its long history it has passed through many stages of
technological development and – in some countries – from prosperity to
depression, there is no doubt that nowadays it forms an important and
integral part of the transport infrastructure of many countries in the world.
In ancient civilizations, inland navigation flourished in the valleys of
great rivers (the Nile, Euphrates, Ganges, Jang-c-tiang, etc.) and artificial
waterways were known in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and China, where
Emperor Yantei (Sui Dynasty AD 611) built the ‘Great Canal’ – a 2400 km
waterway (linking the river systems of the north with the southern
provinces).
In Europe in AD 793, the emperor Charles the Great had already
started the building of a canal intended to link the Rhine and the Danube
(Fossa Carolina), an attempt soon to be abandoned. The first clearly docu-
mented navigation lock dates from 1439 and was constructed on the
Naviglio Grande canal in northern Italy.
Industrialization was the prime mover of modern waterways devel-
opment in the 18th and 19th centuries with the network of navigable rivers
and canals in England at the forefront of this type of development (e.g. the
Bridgewater canalbuilt by James Brindley and the Ellesmere canalbuilt by
Thomas Telford). The Forth and Clyde canalin Scotland completed in
1790, was the first sea-to-sea ship canal in the world.
TheAnderton boat liftovercoming a head of 15 m between the Trent
and the Mersey canal and the river Weaver in Cheshire, UK, was built in
1875 and is the first iron barge lift with a hydraulic lifting system.
The second half of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century
saw the construction of two great navigation canals of global importance.
The 160 km long, 305–365 m wide and 19.5 m (minimum) deep Suez canal