19th Century Canal Locks

Canals were the major, interstate highways of their day, and led to amazing advances in the movement of both people and goods, but they can't climb hills without help. Canal locks were used as boat elevators to allow canals to climb mountains, descend valleys, and advance the Industrial Revolution. Today's canal locks may have a bit more concrete and metal, and maybe a bit less stone and wood, but they still work the same way.
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[@ronblack7870]

in the UK they have a very extensive canal system with people living on boats and cruising all over . there are many videos on youtube.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

With the narrowboats. I've seen quite a bit of it, and it looks like more are being restored. There's still a lot of canals used in the States for commercial shipping today, too, more than most people realize.

[@TheAuldGaffer]

Nice seeing the details of how the locks actually function. Very cool. Hope to take that boat ride some day. Thanks for showing us this.

[@samuelcollins1331]

Brave attempt to explain the intricacies of this structure. But in the end there was a sense of confusion leading to an uneasy frustration.

[@robertlacoste3315]

Cool video. And I never knew about the park in Toledo which is just a few hours away. I’ll be making a visit in the next few weeks

[@Industrial_Revolution]

Providence has a lot of cool stuff
Be sure to check out the water-powered sawmill/grist mill/machine shop/blacksmith next to the canal while you're there.

[@trep53]

Great video, the old canal systems are worth exploring. The systems of canals all over the world predate the railroads so they where vital to move cargo for the growing industries as the roads and horse carts did not have the capacity. The locks I’m familiar with in Ohio used the water from rivers that ran parallel to the canal. This provided the source to keep the canal level deep enough. However the rivers tended to flood during storms and would also flood the canal system and cause great damage. This was a tricky system to keep operational. Once the railroads where developed the canals became useless.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

Thanks! It was that flooding that killed off the Ohio canal network. I have a video coming up on canal water management. I'm showing water management on 19th century canals, but they're still using pretty much the same things today to solve the save problems.

[@justtl5885]

Nice work!

[@Industrial_Revolution]

Thanks!

[@Biocarey]

Pointy ends on boats probably help with that “moving through water” thing that boats do. Maybe it helps with not hitting the sides also…

[@Industrial_Revolution]

It can help some, and can probably help to go straight, too, when the tow is off to the side, but they're not really going all that fast to worry too much about streamlining.

[@robertlacoste3315]

Canal barges were never meant for speed just total tonnage it could carry. And at 80 feet long and 14 feet wide the mule could care less how pointy it was

[@Industrial_Revolution]

@robertlacoste3315 with a speed limit of 4 mph, imagine getting pulled over and ticketed for a fast walk while leading the mules.

[@chrislist7456]

Was it momentum that carried the boat into lock?

[@Industrial_Revolution]

After the line to the mules was thrown off? Yep. Then going out of the lock, it was the two guys pulling it before the mules got hooked back up again. You can hear them joking about being mules.

[@chrislist7456]

@@Industrial_Revolution, caught that going out. It looked like it was just momentum carrying it in, but wasn't sure if I missed something that was pulling them in.