Oh man, thanks for this! I did not realize that it was essentially to hoist the boats over uneven terrain, always assumed the canal was a straight dug channel.

Oh man, thanks for this! I did not realize that it was essentially to hoist the boats over uneven terrain, always assumed the canal was a straight dug channel. Never enough to go search out the answer, but it always tickled the back of my mind when it came up. Thank you!