The famous Caledonian Canal linking the east and west coasts of
Scotland (Inverness to Fort William) passes right through Loch Ness; it
has a capacity of up to 600 t and its 29 locks were designed by Thomas
Telford in the early 19th century.
The longest inland waterway is the Grand Union Canal which –
including all branches – is almost 300 km long with over 200 locks. The
longest tunnel in the UK network is the 2900 m long Dudley tunnel
(Edwards, 1972).
(b) The European network
The European waterways of differing technical standards and slightly
diverging parameters in the individual countries, form four more or less
self-contained groups (Fig. 11.2):
- French waterways;
- Central European waterways between the Rhine in the west and the
Vistula in the east, consisting of navigable rivers flowing to the north
and the canals interconnecting them in an east–west direction; - South European waterways, comprising the Danube, the navigable
sections of its tributaries, and accompanying canals; - East European waterways, consisting of the navigable rivers in
the European part of Russia, and the Volga–Moskva canal, the
Volga–Don canal, the Volga–Baltic Sea canal, the Baltic Sea–White
Sea canal, etc.
DEFINITIONS, CLASSIFICATION AND SOME WATERWAYS 465
Fig. 11.2 European waterways (Novak, 1994)