Canals

The first built in Egypt and India to distribute water for irrigation. The Romans constructed several for navigation, one of which was in England. The Imperial canal of China, built in the seventh century, is one of the longest in the world, 825 m. Soon after, many were made in Holland. The Suez, Panama, Nicaraugua, Erie, Sault St. Marie, and other large canals are described under these headings. The James River and Kanawha Canal has the greatest lift, 1,916 ft. in a distance of 150 m. The Well and Canal in Canada, 27 m. long, connects Lakes Ontario and Erie, and has 25 locks with a depth of 14 ft. on sills. The cost of canals ranges from $50,000 to nearly $1.000,000 per m. The Erie cost nearly $230,000, the Suez ab. $800,000, per m. Inclined planes and hydraulic lifts are sometimes used in steads of locks. The Ellesmere Canal in England is carried over the Ceirog River by a stone aqueduct 710 ft. in length, which cost $233,000. Important canals are now under construction for the drainage of Chicago, and of the City of Mexico. Owing to the great development of railways, canals for navigation now constructed are mostly for the pa age of ve els rather than boats. See SHIP CANALS.