The Transport Revolution of the 18 th Century Canals and Waterways

The Need for Canals  Roads were very poor  The new Turnpikes were not good for heavy, bulky and fragile goods  Water transport could carry more  But coastal and river transport was unreliable and could not serve the whole country

The Advantages of Canals  Canals could carry a lot more than roads  They were much safer for fragile goods (like pottery)  Unlike rivers, canals did not meander,or have adverse currents and shallows  They could be built where they were needed

Disadvantages of Canals  They had to be built on a level – this meant expensive tunnels, aqueducts and locks  They were very slow – top speed 4 miles per hour  Locks, tunnels and aqueducts, and overnight stops meant average speeds of less than one mile per hour  Journeys took weeks

James Brindley  Semi-literate engineer  The most important canal builder of the Industrial Revolution  Solved the main problems facing canal builders  Used puddled clay to seal in the water  Built the “Silver Cross” – network of canals linking the corners of England

The Bridgewater Canal  The Duke of Bridgewater owned coal mines at Worsley, 8 miles from Manchester  Brindley was employed to build a canal  It crossed the River Irwell at Barton – an aqueduct was built  The canal cut the price of coal in Manchester by 50%, making vast profits for the Duke  In 1776 the canal was extended to the Mersey at Runcorn

The Grand Trunk (Trent & Mersey) Canal  Josiah Wedgwood owned a pottery works at “Etruria” in Stoke-on-Trent  He wanted a safe form of transport for his pottery  He wanted to bring supplies of clay from the port of Liverpool  He invested heavily in Brindley’s project to link the Bridgewater Canal to the Trent  It was known as the Grand Trunk because many branch lines were built

“Canal Mania” and the effects of Canals  The success of the Bridgewater and Grand Trunk canals led to many more canals being built  By 1850 more than 4000miles had been built  Birmingham’s importance grew because it was at the hub- it had more canals than Venice  But many of the later canals were disastrous investments – they could not produce profits  Other famous canal engineers included:- Telford, Smeaton and Rennie  Canals created many jobs for “Navvies” and “Bargees”  Canals reshaped the countryside  Canals made profits for many investors  Canals assisted industry by solving the problem of moving heavy, bulky goods at cheaper rates than on the roads

Conclusions – The Railways  Between them Turnpikes and Canals provided a solution to the problems of transport during the early Industrial Revolution  Roads moved people, mail, money, & livestock  Canals moved coal, iron, grain, clay, pottery  BUT neither form of transport would be able to compete with the new RAILWAYS (after 1830) for speed, price and capacity