HOW A CANAL LOCK WORKS
The essential engineering that enables boats to navigate canals and transport goods inland
WORDS AILSA HARVEY
hether they’re used for recreation or for business, boats are often
limited to the perimeters of coastlines. However, thousands of inland waterways and hundreds of shipping canals are hidden away from the oceans. These human-made transport systems enable vessels to move between two large bodies of water, or create a network of routes within a city. The world’s waterways are direct courses for shipping vessels that navigate between continents, greatly reducing the mileage covered and reducing shipping times by up to ten days per journey. But not all of the benefits that stem from canals impact the boats that use them. Canals can be multipurpose and are a main source of hydroelectric power generation. This involves installing turbines along canals that are turned by the flow of the
water within them. The canals’ kinetic energy is then converted into electrical energy and transported via the electricity grid to nearby homes and businesses.