Ship canal

The Panama Canal.

A ship canal is a canal especially intended to accommodate ships used on the oceans, seas or lakes to which it is connected, as opposed to a barge canal intended to carry barges and other vessels specifically designed for river and/or canal navigation. Because of the constraints of accommodating vessels capable of navigating large bodies of open water, a ship canal typically offers deeper water and higher bridge clearances than a barge canal of similar vessel length and width constraints.

Ship canals may be specially constructed from the start to accommodate ships, or less frequently they may be enlarged barge canals, or canalized or channelized rivers. There are no specific minimum dimensions for ship canals, with the size being largely dictated by the size of ships in use nearby at the time of construction or enlargement.

Ship canals may be constructed for a number of reasons, including:

  1. To create a shortcut and avoid lengthy detours.
  2. To create a navigable shipping link between two land-locked seas or lakes.
  3. To provide inland cities with a direct shipping link to the sea.
  4. To provide an economical alternative to other options.

Important ship canals

Canal Length Lock depth Dimensions Location Notes
White Sea – Baltic Canal227 km (141 mi)3.5 m (11 ft)135 m × 14.3 m × 3.5 mRussia Russia
  • Opened in 1933, is partly a canalised river, partly an artificial canal, and partly some natural lakes.
  • Shallow depth limits modern vessels from using the canal.
Rhine-Main-Danube Canal171 km (106 mi)4 m (13 ft)lock dimensions: 190m x 11.45 m x 4 m Germany
Suez Canal193.30 km (120.11 mi)No locks, but 24 m (79 ft) deep.205 m (673 ft) wide Egypt
Volga-Don Canal101 km (63 mi)3.5 m (11 ft)lock dimensions: 140m x 16.7 m x 3.5 m Russia
Kiel Canal98 km (61 mi)14 m (46 ft)lock dimensions: 310m x 42 m x 14 m Germany
Houston Ship Channel80 km (50 mi)14 m (46 ft)161 m (528 ft) wide United States
Panama Canal77 km (48 mi)25.9 m (85 ft)lock dimensions: 320m x 33.53 m x 12.56 m (original locks)
426.72 m x 54.86 m x 18.29 m (third set of locks)		 Panama
  • Opened in 1914 with two sets of locks; larger third set opened in 2016. Links the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean, creating a shortcut.
Danube-Black Sea Canal64.4 km (40.0 mi)5.5 m (18 ft)lock dimensions: 138 m x 16.8 m x 5.5 m Romania
Manchester Ship Canal58 km (36 mi)8.78 m (28.8 ft)lock dimensions: 170.68 m x 21.94 m x 8.78 m United Kingdom
Welland Canal43.4 km (27.0 mi)8.2 m (27 ft)lock dimensions: 225.5 m x 23.8 m x 8.2 m Canada
Saint Lawrence Seaway600 km (370 mi)8.2 m (27 ft)lock dimensions: 225.5 m x 23.8 m x 8.2 m Canada
 United States

The standard used in the European Union for classifying the navigability of inland waterways is the European Agreement on Main Inland Waterways of International Importance (AGN) of 1996, adopted by The Inland Transport Committee of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), which defines the following classes:[1][2] (This table is incomplete.)

ClassTonnage (t)Draught (m)Length (m)Width (m)Air Draught (m)Description
Class III1,000
Class IV1,000–1,5002.580–859.55.2–7.0Johann Welker[1]
Class Va1,500–3,0002.5–2.895–11011.45.2–7.0–9.1Large Rhine[1]
Class VIb6,400–12,0003.9140159.1[1]
Class VII14,500–27,0002.5–4.5275–28533.0–34.29.1[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "European Agreement on the main Inland Waterways of international importance (AGN)" (PDF). 2072, I-35939. United Nations: 343. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  2. ↑ previous ref apparently broken (May 2016): alternative reference to document with the same name containing similar tabular information at unece.org
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