Use of Locks in Canals
Early completely artificial canals, across fairly flat countryside, would get round a small hill or depression by simply detouring (contouring) around it. As engineers became more ambitious in the types of country they felt they could overcome, locks became essential to effect the necessary changes in water level without detours that would be completely uneconomic both in building costs and journey time. Later still, as construction techniques improved, engineers became more willing to cut directly through and across obstacles by constructing long tunnels, cuttings, aqueducts or embankments, or to construct even more technical devices such as inclined planes or boat lifts. However, locks continued to be built to supplement these solutions, and are an essential part of even the most modern navigable waterways.
Read more about this topic: Lock (water Transport)
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