The Monmouthshire Canal
This canal was authorised by an Act of Parliament, passed on 3 June 1792, which created the Company of Proprietors of the Monmouthshire Canal Navigation and empowered them to raise £120,000 by the issuing of shares, and a further £60,000 if required. The act stated that the canal would run from Pontnewynydd to the River Usk near Newport, and would include a branch from Crindau to Crumlin Bridge. The Company also had powers to construct railways from the canal to any coal mines, ironworks or limestone quarries which were within eight miles (13 km) of it.
Construction of the canal was supervised by Thomas Dadford, Jr., and further Acts of Parliament were obtained as the work progressed. An act of 4 July 1797 gave the Company powers to extend the navigation, which resulted in the Newport terminus being moved southwards to Potter Street, while a third act of 26 June 1802 authorised specific railways, and allowed the Company to raise additional finance.
The main line, which opened in February 1796, was 12.5 miles (20.1 km) long, and ran from Newport to Pontnewynydd, via Pontymoile, rising by 447 feet (136.3m) through 42 locks. The 11 miles (18 km) Crumlin Arm left the main line at Crindau, rising 358 feet (109m) through 32 locks to Crumlin (including the Cefn flight of Fourteen Locks), and was opened in 1799. In the late 1840s, a short extension joined the canal to Newport Docks, and hence to the River Usk. Because the canal was isolated from other similar undertakings, Dadford was free to set the size of the locks, and they were designed to take boats with a maximum width of 9 feet 2 inches (2.8m), a length of 63 feet (19 m) and a draught of three feet (0.9m).
On the main line, railway branches were constructed from near Pontypool to Blaen-Din Works and Trosnant Furnace. From Crumlin a railway was built to Beaufort Iron Works, which was 10 miles (16 km) long and rose by 619 feet (189 m), and there were additional branches to Sorwy Furnace, Nantyglo Works, and the Sirhowy Railway at Risca.
Read more about this topic: Monmouthshire And Brecon Canal
Famous quotes containing the word canal:
“My impression about the Panama Canal is that the great revolution it is going to introduce in the trade of the world is in the trade between the east and the west coast of the United States.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)