Canal

Canals anaa artificial waterways be waterways anaa engineered channels dem build for drainage management (e.g. flood control den irrigation) anaa for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). Dem dey carry free, calm surface flow under atmospheric pressure, wey dem fi think am as artificial rivers.

Insyd most cases, a canal get a series of dams den locks wey dey create reservoirs of low speed current flow. Dese reservoirs be referred to as slack water levels, dem often just call levels. A canal fi be called a navigation canal wen e dey parallel a natural river den dey share part of de latter ein discharges den drainage basin, den dey leverage ein resources by building dams den locks to increase den lengthen ein stretches of slack water levels while staying insyd ein valley.

A canal fi cut across a drainage divide atop a ridge, generally dey require an external water source above de highest elevation. De best-known example of such a canal be de Panama Canal.

Dem build chaw canals at elevations, above valleys den oda waterways. Canals plus sources of water at a higher level fi deliver water to a destination such as a city wer water be needed. Na de Roman Empire ein aqueducts be such water supply canals.

Na de term once be used to describe certain linear features on de surface of Mars, though modern imaging show dis to be a misnomer.

Types of canals

Der be two broad types of canal:

Waterways: canals den navigations dem use for carrying vessels transporting goods den people. Dese fi be subdivided into two kinds:

Those wey dey connect existing lakes, rivers, oda canals anaa seas den oceans.
Those dem connect insyd a city network: such as de Canal Grande den odas of Venice; de grachten of Amsterdam anaa Utrecht, den de waterways of Bangkok.

Aqueducts: water supply canals wey be used for de conveyance den delivery of potable water, municipal uses, hydro power canals den agriculture irrigation

Lists of canals

Africa
- Bahr Yussef
- El Salam Canal (Egypt)
- Ibrahimiya Canal (Egypt)
- Mahmoudiyah Canal (Egypt)
- Suez Canal (Egypt)
Asia
- King Abdullah Canal (Jordan)
- Qanat al-Jaish (Iraq)
Europe
- Danube–Black Sea Canal (Romania)
- North Crimean Canal (Ukraine)
- Great Bačka Canal (Serbia)
North America
- Panama Canal

Lists of proposed canals

Eurasia Canal
Istanbul Canal
Nicaragua Canal
Salwa Canal
Thai Canal
Sulawesi Canal
Two Seas Canal
Northern river reversal
Balkan Canal anaa Danube–Morava–Vardar–Aegean Canal
Iranrud

References

Bibliography

Calvert, Roger (1963), "Inland Waterways of Europe", The Geographical Journal, 129 (4), George Allen and Unwin: 515, Bibcode:1963GeogJ.129..515A, doi:10.2307/1794678, JSTOR 1794678
Edwards-May, David (2008), European Waterways - map and concise directory, 3rd edition, Euromapping
Hadfield, Charles (1986), World Canals: Inland Navigation Past and Present, David and Charles, ISBN 978-0-7153-8555-5
Needham, J. (1971), Science and Civilisation in China, C.U.P. Cambridge
Rodda, J.C. (2004), The Basis of Civilization - Water Science?, International Association of Hydrological Sciences

External links