88 Internal Communication (b) Canals 



still have a considerable traffic, especially in coal, 

 bricks, and hay. A Royal Commission was appointed 

 to go into the whole question of canals and waterways, 

 and a report was issued in 1907. There are signs of the 

 revival of the canal system owing to the fact that the 

 carriage of heavier goods is cheaper by water than by 

 rail. 



In the United Kingdom there are 4673 miles of 

 canals and the yearly revenue amounts to 2,680,700. 

 Some of the old canals are now derelict, whilst 120 miles 

 of canals have been converted into railways. 



A canal may be defined as an artificially formed 

 channel filled with w^ater, and though it generally 

 denotes a channel used for navigation, it is also applied 

 to channels used for drainage and irrigation. In this 

 chapter we refer only to navigation canals, which 

 are level still-water channels solely constructed as 

 waterways for vessels, just as roads are for vehicles and 

 railways for trains. A canal is generally wide enough 

 for two of the largest-sized barges to pass easily. The 

 bottom is made flat and the sides have slopes of 1J to 

 2 J feet per foot ; but through towns the side walls are 

 often vertical to save space and provide quays. The 

 depth of most of the canals ranges between 3J and 

 5 feet. 



Of all the British canals the Manchester Ship Canal 

 is the largest and most important, and it is estimated 

 that the area directly affected by it is inhabited by 

 more than 10,000,000 people. It was begun in 1887 

 and completed in 1894, after an expenditure of nearly 

 17,000,000. It has a total length of 36J miles and 

 forms the commercial highway for many large and 

 important towns in Cheshire and Lancashire. The 



