Contour canal
A contour canal is an artificially-dug navigable canal which closely follows the contour line of the land it traverses, in order to avoid costly engineering works such as:
- Digging a cutting or tunnel through higher ground;
- Building an embankment or aqueduct over lower ground, or;
- Constructing a canal lock(or series of locks) to change the level of the canal.
Because of this, these canals are characterised by their meandering course.
In the
Thames & Severn Canal completed in 1789, and the Oxford Canal completed in 1790. Later canals tended to be much straighter and more direct - a good example is the Shropshire Union Canal engineered by Thomas Telford
.
See also
- Canals of the United Kingdom
- Grand Contour Canal - proposed, but never built
- Lingqu Canal- the oldest contour canal in the world
Notes
References
- Day, Lance and Ian McNeil. (1996). Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-06042-7.