Page:The Canal System of England.djvu/49

 applicable for larger craft, as the weight of the cargo, especially if in bulk, would set up severe strains upon the sides of the boats when taken out of the water.

The Grand Junction Canal Co. has an incline at Foxton on the Union Canal. This is made with moveable caissons working on four lines with a gradient of 1 in 14. A Barge of 70 tons or two canal boats of 33 tons can be raised at one time a height of 75 feet. The lift can be worked by 3 men and passes 200 boats in 12 hours.

At the Fourth International Congress referred to previously, a design was brought forward for an incline of about 100 feet to take French Standard boats, and the cost was estimated at £60,000, an expense quite out of proportion to the comparatively small outlay for the lock.

Other disadvantages of inclined planes are briefly—

(1) The large amount of space necessary.

(2) The great wear and tear of the chains and ropes.

(3) The damage done to the boats by striking the sides of the trough.

The important advantages are doubtless the great Advantages, saving of time and water.

III.—Vertical Hydraulic Lifts are also in use. The first of these was built in 1875 at Anderton, between the River Weaver and the Trent and Mersey Canal, under the direction of Mr. (now Sir) E. Leader Williams. The boats remain afloat in a water-tight trough, and are raised 50 feet with a loss of only 6 inches of water, one