canals

Canals – artificial channels for water

• irrigation canals – used for the delivery of water
• waterways – navigable transportation canals used for passage of goods and people, often connected to existing lakes, rivers, or oceans.
• aqueduct – a canal used for water supply

The Panama Canal – the Panama Canal is one of civil engineering’s greatest triumphs. Under the direction of U.S. Col. George Washington Goethals, 42,000 workers dredged, blasted and excavated from Colon to Balboa. They moved enough earth and rubble to bury the island of Manhattan to a depth of 12 ft. — or enough to open a 16-ft.-wide tunnel to the center of the Earth. The canal was finished on time and within budget.

Canal du Midi – water from a feeder canal constructed from the Black Mountain to Naurouzes just west of Castalnaudary could flow in two directions – either east towards the sea or west, back towards Toulouse.

What’s the problem?

Corinth Canal, located in Greece, connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf. The Corinth Canal, though only completed in the late 19th century, was an idea that dates back over 2000 thousand years. The strip of land that connects the Peloponnese and mainland Greece is called the “Isthmus”. At it’s narrowest point, it is only 4 miles wide, and in ancient times, one could see from one side to the other. Before the Corinth Canal was constructed, ships had to travel all around the Peloponnese, which added approximately 185 nautical miles, and several days more travel to their journey time.