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Canal

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Engineering

   The Canal du Midi, Toulouse, France
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   The Canal du Midi, Toulouse, France
   The Kennet and Avon Canal at Bathampton, near Bath, England
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   The Kennet and Avon Canal at Bathampton, near Bath, England

   Canals are man-made waterways, usually connecting existing lakes,
   rivers, or oceans. There are two main types of canals: irrigation
   canals for the delivery of water and transportation canals for passage
   of goods and people. Some rivers have also been canalised to make them
   navigable.

   Smaller transportation canals can carry barges or narrowboats, while
   ship canals can accommodate sea-going ships and may connect one ocean
   to another.

Ancient canals

   The Grand Canal of China at Suzhou
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   The Grand Canal of China at Suzhou

   The oldest-known canals were built in Mesopotamia circa 4000 BC. The
   Indus Valley Civilization in Pakistan and North India (from circa 2600
   BC) had the first canal irrigation system in the world. The longest
   canal of ancient times was the Grand Canal of China. It is 1794
   kilometers (1115 miles) long and was built to carry the Emperor Yang
   Guang between Beijing and Hangzhou. The project began in 605, although
   the oldest sections of the canal may have existed since circa 486 BC.
   In places it is 30 m (100 ft) wide.

Cities on water

   Rio de la Verona: a rio or small canal in Venice.
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   Rio de la Verona: a rio or small canal in Venice.

   Canals are so deeply identified with Venice that many canal cities have
   been nicknamed "the Venice of..." The city is built on marshy islands,
   with wooden piles supporting the buildings, so that here it is not so
   much the waterways which are man-made, as the land. The islands have a
   long history of settlement, and by the 12th century Venice was a
   powerful city state.

   Amsterdam was built in a similar way, with buildings on wooden piles.
   The pace of draining of fenland and polder in the Low Countries
   quickened in the 14th century and canalization made the village of
   Amsterdam a port. It became a city around 1300.

Industrial revolution

   A picturesque stretch on the Calder and Hebble Navigation, England
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   A picturesque stretch on the Calder and Hebble Navigation, England
   The Pawtucket Canal during a flood of the Merrimack River at Lowell,
   Massachusetts
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   The Pawtucket Canal during a flood of the Merrimack River at Lowell,
   Massachusetts

   In Europe and then in the young United States, inland canals preceded
   the development of railroads during the earliest phase of the
   Industrial Revolution; some canals were later drained and used as
   railroad rights-of-way. Navigable canals reached into previously
   isolated areas and brought them in touch with the world economy. The
   Erie Canal, for instance, opened up a connection from the populated
   Northeast to the fertile Great Plains.

   The oldest canal built for industrial purposes in North America is
   Mother Brook in Dedham, MA. It was constructed in 1639 to provide water
   power for mills. Lowell, Massachusetts, considered to be "The Cradle of
   the American Industrial Revolution," has 6 miles of canals that
   provided waterpower and a means of transportation for the city.

   Competition from the railway network made many canals obsolete for
   commercial transportation, and many fell into decay.

Modern uses

   The Miraflores Locks on the Panama Canal (2004)
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   The Miraflores Locks on the Panama Canal (2004)

   A movement that began in Britain and France to use the picturesque
   early industrial canals for pleasure boats has spurred rehabilitation
   of stretches of historic canals.

   Canals have found another use in the 21st century, as wayleaves for
   fibre optic telecommunications networks.

Famous canals and lists

   Canal in the centre of Amsterdam.
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   Canal in the centre of Amsterdam.
     * List of waterways
     * Grand Canal of China - Longest Canal
     * Lingqu Canal - the oldest existing canal in the world
     * Birmingham Canal Navigations- UK
     * Birmingham and Fazeley Canal - UK
     * Canals of Ireland
     * List of canals in the United States
     * Canals of the United Kingdom
     * Klong
     * Suez Canal
     * Panama Canal
     * Corinth Canal
     * Cape Coral, Florida
     * Venice
     * Amsterdam
     * Saimaa Canal - Lappeenranta, Finland
     * White Sea-Baltic Canal, Russia
     * Welland Canal - Ontario, Canada
     * Saint Lawrence Seaway - Quebec, Ontario, Canada
     * Erie Canal - New York, U.S.
     * C & O Canal - U.S.
     * Rideau Canal - Ontario, Canada
     * Shubie Canal - Nova Scotia, Canada
     * Lachine Canal - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
     * Manchester Ship Canal

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
