160 likes | 508 Views
The Manchester Ship Canal. From the history of the Canal. The Manchester Ship Canal (MSC), affectionately known by locals as The Big Ditch , was opened on the 21 st of May 1894 , and is a large canal in North West England . It runs from the north side of the Wirral Peninsula
E N D
From the history of the Canal TheManchesterShipCanal (MSC), affectionatelyknownbylocalsasTheBigDitch, wasopenedonthe 21st of May1894, andis a largecanalinNorthWestEngland. ItrunsfromthenorthsideoftheWirralPeninsula atEastham, whereEasthamLocksopenoutintotheRiverMersey, for 36 miles (57 km) eastwardstolinkthecityofManchestertotheIrishSea. UnlikeBritain'sothercanals, the MSC wasdesignedspecificallytocarry ocean-goingships, andmadelandlockedManchesterintoanimportantseaport.
A shipcanalwasproposedas a wayofgiving ocean-goingvesselsdirectaccesstoManchester. TheregionwassufferingfromtheeffectsoftheLongDepression, andforthecanal'sproponents, whoarguedthattheschemewouldboostcompetitionandcreatejobs, theideaof a shipcanalmadesoundeconomicsense.
TheconstructionofthecanalwasoverseenbythechiefengineeranddesignerEdwardLeaderWilliams, whowasknightedbyQueenVictoriaattheofficialopeningon21 May 1894. The opening of the canal by queen Victoria 21st may, 1894. EdwardLeaderWilliams
Constructionbeganin 1887; ittooksixyearsandcostabout£15million. WhentheshipcanalopenedinJanuary 1894 itwasthelargestrivernavigationcanalintheworld. AlthoughitenabledthenewlycreatedPortofManchestertobecomeBritain'sthirdbusiestport. But thecanalneverachievedthecommercialsuccessitssponsorshadhopedfor.
ThecanalwascompletedjustastheLongDepressionwascomingtoanend. On 18 October 2007, TescoannouncedthattheywouldbeusingtheShipCanalfortransportingNewWorldwinebetweenLiverpoolandManchester. Theysaidthiswillsave 1 millionkmofroadhaulageperyear.