Leeds and Liverpool Canal (school project)

Leeds and Liverpool Canal

A school project

1. Why was the canal needed?

The canal was needed for linking the two cities, Leeds and Liverpool.
It was built mainly for coal transportation. More than a million tons per year of coal was transported to Liverpool in the 1860's. Nowadays people use the canal for leisure and holiday or maybe just for a weekend of rest.




2. How was it built?

The builders measured the width with chains and drove in stakes and markers into the ground.
Locks and aqua-ducts are needed for going up or down hills.
Along a section of the canal course holes were dug to show the width and depth.
Gangs of construction workers would then dig trenches to link up the holes to form the main channel.
To make the canal water proof, it was lined with puddle clay. This was packed down up to 3 ft or 90 cm thick along the bottom of the canal.

Once this was done, a layer of big stone blocks would be put on top of the canal side and a tow-path was created.
Without water there is no canal! Every time a boat goes through a lock, over 330 000 litres of water empties out from the top downstream. A string of 8 dames were built in the Pennine Plato to capture rain water as it ran off the hills. This is then stored in reservoirs and pumped into the canal when needed.

It is more than 204 km long an includes 91 locks on the main lane. It took almost 40 years to build.
The first part to be opened was from Bingley to Skipton.



3. How was it used commercially.

It was built mainly for coal transportation, there was more than a million tons of coal being transported to
Liverpool in the 1860's per year.

4. Who uses it now and for what purpose? 

People who are in need of a nice long slow holiday of just cruising along and having fun. The canal is well equipped for holiday and is fully packed with wonderful views of hills of sheep and many other things.


5. Who pays for its maintenance now?

The canal and river trust pays and fixes the canal. They also make sure the locks are in peek condition.
Last, last year they spent £66.5 million on routine water way maintenance. Around 20% of water ways budget goes towards fixing defects. However, with the limited funds they only repair the areas most in need of maintenance first.

6. Facts on a narrow boat/canal boat?

Narrow boats were built in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.
The narrow boat played a big part in the British industrial revolution.
In the 19th century people painted roses and other things on the narrow boats to make them look nicer.
A canal boat/narrow boat can be up to 21 meters or 70 ft long (about 2 average London buses) with 6 ft or 1.8 meters of head room (about as high as an average door).

The canals were mainly built during the industrial revolution to carry cargo. The boats were puled along by horses but when they went through a tunnel the men had to lie on their backs on the roof of the boat and 'walk' along the ceiling of the tunnel to push the boat through the tunnel.