When roads meet, they form an intersection. Railroads are joined by switches. What happens when two canals meet? Two canal intersections in England employ most unusual solutions, a bridge and an elevator!
The Manchester Ship Canal and the Bridgewater Canal meet at Barton, England. A swing bridge, the first bridge of its kind in the world, carries the Bridgewater Canal over the other canal.
When a ship approaches the intersection in the Bridgewater Canal, the bridge is closed to allow the ship to pass over the Manchester Ship Canal. When a ship approaches in the Manchester Ship Canal, the bridge is swung open to allow it room to pass.
Two other canals meet at Anderton, near Liverpool. But one is 50 feet higher than the other. An elevator lifts barges from the lower canal to the Trent and Mersey Canal above it. This elevator can lift barges weighing up to 100 tons!
Related Posts
-
What Country Has 4,000 Miles of River and Canals?
The Netherlands is a small nation, about 190 miles long and just 100 miles wide in most places. The country's total area is 15,892 square miles, about twice the size of New Jersey.…
-
What City Has Canals Instead of Streets?
Venice lies on a group of marshy islands in the Adriatic Sea, about four miles from the mainland of Italy. The city was founded by people escaping barbarian invasions on the mainland, mainly…
-
How Do We Know If There Is Life On Mars and Why Did Percival Lowell Believe That Martians Built Canals On Mars?
Experiments on Earth have concluded that certain cells can survive a simulated Martian environment. In 1996, a meteorite that originated on Mars was discovered. The announcement that this rock contained possible evidence of…
-
Do Lions and Tigers Ever Meet in the Wild?
Because many people think that lions and tigers both live in Africa, they may wonder which of these giant cats proves the strongest when they tangle. But there isn't a single wild tiger…
-
Which Southwestern States Meet At Four Corners and How Did It Get Its Name?
Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah meet at Four Corners. You can get to this unique spot by taking U.S. 160 in Arizona. The Four Corners region is mostly rural and arid, and…
-
When did northeastern Native Americans first meet European Explorers?
In 1497, only five years after Christopher Columbus's voyage to North America, John Cabot, an Italian-born explorer heading an English expedition, sailed to what is now Newfoundland in northeastern Canada. During a second…
