CANALS 



A.C n ii 



iu ft .nd 



mil parti. 



I 



Cardiff orGlaiDor-") 

 gun.-liire, j 



Chester, 

 Chesterfield, . 



Coventry, . 

 Crinan, . . . 

 Cromfbrd, . 



Croydpn, 



Dearne and Dove, 



Derby 



Dorset & Somerset, 



Dublin & Shannon, 

 Law-ton branch, . . . 

 Miltoun brunch, . . . 

 Bog of Allen branch, 

 Kdenderry branch, 

 Kildare branch, 



Dudley, 



Stoiirbridge branch, 

 Dudley branch, 



Edinburgh & G!as- J 

 .cow, or Union, J 



SOI 



08 



coo 



3SO 



l.V) 



24, 



91 

 82 



3-6 

 13 

 4-4 



15-8 

 6-6 



8-6 



4424- 



3-3 



the glacis of the fortification, thus adding to the military defences as well 

 as to the appearance of the fort, which, with the five locks of masonry 

 rising behind, presents a grand combination of civil and military engineer- 

 ing amid romantic mountain scenery. From Loch Ness, passing in the 

 westwardly direction of the canal to Loch njrh, 1] mile, the. land is 20 

 feet above the water line, xvhich, with the depth of water in the canal 

 makes an excavation, in this distance, of 40 feet in depth, with a bottom 

 of 40 feet in breadth. To save rock-cutting, in descending, in the west- 

 wardly direction, as before, from Loch Oich to Loch Lochy, the natural 

 difference ot the surfaces of the two lakes being 22 feet, the whole area 

 of Loch Lochy, which is 10 miles in length and 1 in breadth, is raised 1$ 

 feet In the last 2 miles, before the canal, in its westerly direction, enters 

 Loch Eil, there is a descent of 64 feet, which is passed by 8 connected 

 locks, each 180 feet long by 40 in breadth. These locks are founded on 

 inverted arches, exhibiting a solid and continuous mass of masonry 500 

 yards in length and 20 yards wide, in which, as late as 1824, and 5 years 

 after its construction, no flaw had been discovered. The gates are of 

 cast-iron. This system of locks has received the fanciful appellation of 

 Neptune't Staircase and the appearance of large vessels, with their 

 masts and rigging, descending these stupendous locks, from the hill Co- 

 wards Loch Eil, is most majestic and imposing, exhibiting a striking in. 

 stance of the triumph of art In the distance of 8 miles, from Loch 

 Lochy to tide-water in Loch Eil, the canal, in passing along the north, 

 westerly bank of the river Lochy, crosses, by aqueduct bridges, 3 large 

 streams and 2:! smaller ones. Since the construction of this canal, upwards 

 of a million of forest-trees have been planted along its borders. The cost 

 of this great national work was, for 



Management and travelling expenses, . . 29,000 



Timber 68,600 



Machinery, cast-iron work, &c. . 121,600 



Quarries and Masonry, ... . 195,800 



Shipping, . . . 11,000 



Labour and workmanship, 418,000 



Houses and buildings, . . . 4,600 



Purchase and damage of land, .... 47,900 



Horse labour, 3,000 



Road-making, . 4,(KX) 



Incidental expenses, 2,000 



Add, to complete the dredging, . 7,200 



912,500 



Assuming the number of miles operated upon to be 25, the canal cost 

 36,500 per mile. It was constructed under the direction of Thoma* 

 Telford, Esq. As yet it has turned out an unprofitable speculation. 

 During the year 1829, the total revenue of the canal, arising from tonnage 

 dues and all other sources, amounted to only 2,575, while the ordinary 

 expenditure, during the same year, amounted to 4,573. 

 Prom a sea-basin on the Severn, near Cardiff, to Merthyr ; ia connected 

 ith various railways, one of which is 261 miles long. Number of thares, 

 600; cost, 172 13s. 4d. ; price in 1824, 265. 



From the Dee, at Chester, to Nantwitch, where it communicates with 

 the Whitchurch branch of the Ellesmere canal. 



From the Trent, at Stockwith, to Chesterfield ; has 65 locks and 2 tun- 

 nels, together 2850 yards long, and 9| feet wide. The lower part of the 

 canal is navigable for boats of from 50 to 60 tons burden, and the higher, 

 being but 26 or 28 feet broad, is navigable for boats of enly 20 or 22 tons 

 Surden. These boats are 70 feet long and 7 feet broad. Number of 

 hares, 1500: cost 100; price in 1831, 170. 



A part of the line of canal between London and Liverpool. Number 

 f shares, 500; amount, 100; price 170. 



From loch Gilp to loch Crinan. Number of shares, 1851 : cost, 50 ; 

 rice in 1831, .'.'. 



From the Erewash canal, at Laugley, to Cromford. It has several 

 unnels, and passes the river Derwent by an aqueduct 200 yards long and 

 30 feet high. The arch over the channel of the river is 80 feet broad, 

 mother aqueduct over a branch of the Derwent is 200 yards long and 

 >0 feet high. Each aqueduct cost about 3UX). Number of shares, 460 ; 

 ost 31 2s. 10d.; price in 1831, 420. 



From Grand Snrry canal to Croydon. It has 23 locks. Number of 

 hares, 4546; originally, 100 ; price in 1831, 1 17s. 6d. 



From the river Dove, between Swinton and Mexburgb to Barnesley 

 canal. The boats are from 50 to 60 tons burden. It has two branches, 

 F 3| and I j miles in length. 



From the river Trent to Derby. Number of shares, 600 ; cost, 140 ; 

 rice in 1831, 130. It has a branch, the Erewash, 8j miles in lenuth. 

 From the Kennet and Avon canal to the river Stour ; but not com 

 leted in 1824; bas a branch 9 miles lonsr. 



From Dublin, at the mouth of the Liffey, to the river Shannon, near 

 ie town of Moy. It passes 24 miles aeries a marsh, in which the ab. 

 irbing nature of the soil rendered the work enormously expensive. 



From the Worcester and Birmingham canal. It has 61 locks ; 6 tnn- 

 _ls, one 3776 yards in length, another 623 yards, and the other 29<i6 yards, 

 1 13i feet wide ; and near one of them, the Laplat tunnel, it passes 

 jcka, nearly contiguous. Number of shares, 2u60; originally, 100; 

 ice in 1824, 63. 



This canal was instituted in order to connect the Forth and < 

 anal with the city of Edinburgh. A company of shareholders obtained 

 n act of parliament for it in 1817 ; the work was begun in March 1818 ; 

 jid the whole line was completed in May 1822. It was completed at an 

 normoub expense, in consequence of its having to be carried over a 

 ne and the water of Leith at Slateford, by a bridge 65 feet in height 

 id 500 in length, and over the Avon about a mile above th bridge o 



