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I haven't heard of an aqueduct here in the United States capable of carrying boat traffic. I think of aqueducts here as only part of drinking water or irrigatio

by schoen 5y ago

I haven't heard of an aqueduct here in the United States capable of carrying boat traffic. I think of aqueducts here as only part of drinking water or irrigation water systems, like the California Aqueduct which brings water from Northern California to Southern California. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Aqueduct https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Aqueduct I don't think of them as parts of navigable waterways! Edit: Apparently there are some, mainly on the Erie and Chesapeake and Ohio canals. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Navigable_aqueducts_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Navigable_aqueducts_i... https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Canal_aqueducts_in_the_United_States https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Canal_aqueducts_... The Erie Canal is still operating along with some of its aqueducts, while the Chesapeake and Ohio canal has been shut down and it seems most of its aqueducts are no longer maintained or operational. I don't think I ever knew about that. Maybe it's better-known to people who live in the vicinity of those canals? Artificial navigable waterways are a lot more pervasive in the Netherlands than here. :-) Maybe partly because the U.S. is a lot hillier.

Animats 5y ago
The Erie Canal opened in 1825, and the first railroad in the US opened in 1831. It was a bypass for a slow section of the Erie Canal. So narrow canals in the US became obsolete before many were built. The California Aqueduct has some water bridges over the aqueduct.[1] That's to keep agricultural runoff out of the water supply. [1] https://earth.google.com/web/@37.1548186,-121.06138975,71.78155766a,357.51933742d,35y,-0h,0t,0r https://earth.google.com/web/@37.1548186,-121.06138975,71.78...
Grismar 5y ago
You do realise that an aqueduct carrying only water is carrying the same load as one carrying lots of ships? (maybe you do) The weight of the ships displaces exactly the amount of water with that weight. There is of course some water movement to deal with, and there are safety margins required, in case of accidents, etc. - perhaps that was your point, but I think it's worth pointing out, if people aren't familiar with aquaducts.
- schoen 5y ago
  I read that once but had forgotten it until you reminded me, so thanks! I was thinking that aqueducts for drinking and irrigation water usually wouldn't be navigable because their waterway is too small (too shallow or too narrow), or, for drinking water, is sometimes covered or enclosed. Edit: For example, EBMUD has a major aqueduct coming from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardee_Dam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardee_Dam (https://www.ebmud.com/files/cache/f49ff54bdbea934d88a2bfee4075106c_f659.jpg https://www.ebmud.com/files/cache/f49ff54bdbea934d88a2bfee40... -- none of it navigable or even close!) while SF Water has a major aqueduct coming from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O%27Shaughnessy_Dam_(California) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O%27Shaughnessy_Dam_(Californi... Both of these use enclosed pipelines and spend a significant portion of their journeys underground! I think L.A. has something similar. Edit 2: Yep, the enormous and also totally non-navigable https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Aqueduct https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Aqueduct

by schoen 5y ago

Animats 5y ago

The Erie Canal opened in 1825, and the first railroad in the US opened in 1831. It was a bypass for a slow section of the Erie Canal. So narrow canals in the US became obsolete before many were built. The California Aqueduct has some water bridges over the aqueduct.[1] That's to keep agricultural runoff out of the water supply. [1] https://earth.google.com/web/@37.1548186,-121.06138975,71.78155766a,357.51933742d,35y,-0h,0t,0r https://earth.google.com/web/@37.1548186,-121.06138975,71.78...

Grismar 5y ago

You do realise that an aqueduct carrying only water is carrying the same load as one carrying lots of ships? (maybe you do) The weight of the ships displaces exactly the amount of water with that weight. There is of course some water movement to deal with, and there are safety margins required, in case of accidents, etc. - perhaps that was your point, but I think it's worth pointing out, if people aren't familiar with aquaducts.

schoen 5y ago
I read that once but had forgotten it until you reminded me, so thanks! I was thinking that aqueducts for drinking and irrigation water usually wouldn't be navigable because their waterway is too small (too shallow or too narrow), or, for drinking water, is sometimes covered or enclosed. Edit: For example, EBMUD has a major aqueduct coming from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardee_Dam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardee_Dam (https://www.ebmud.com/files/cache/f49ff54bdbea934d88a2bfee4075106c_f659.jpg https://www.ebmud.com/files/cache/f49ff54bdbea934d88a2bfee40... -- none of it navigable or even close!) while SF Water has a major aqueduct coming from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O%27Shaughnessy_Dam_(California) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O%27Shaughnessy_Dam_(Californi... Both of these use enclosed pipelines and spend a significant portion of their journeys underground! I think L.A. has something similar. Edit 2: Yep, the enormous and also totally non-navigable https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Aqueduct https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Aqueduct