John Rennie The Elder - Canals and Waterways

Canals and Waterways

In 1791, he moved to London and set up his own engineering business, having by then begun to expand into civil engineering, particularly the construction of canals. His early projects included the Lancaster Canal (started 1792), the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation (1793), the Crinan Canal (1794), Rudyard Lake (1797) and the Dundas Aqueduct on the Kennet and Avon Canal (1800). This was followed by the Rochdale Canal, which passes through difficult country between Rochdale and Todmorden. He subsequently in 1802 revised the plans for the Royal Canal of Ireland from Dublin to the Shannon near Longford. For many years he was engaged in extensive drainage operations in the Lincolnshire and Norfolk fens (1802–1810), and in the improvement of the River Witham. The Eau Brink Cut, a new channel for the River Ouse, was completed just before his death.