Birmingham Canal, England—a future unlocked by Telford.

Thomas Telford's best known canal work is probably Pontcysyllte Aqueduct on the Llangollen (Ellesmere) Canal, possibly followed by the construction of the Shropshire Union and Caledonian Canals. However, the greatest concentration of engineering works exhibiting Telford's genius is probably a 6 km length of the Birmingham Canal, where he dramatically upgraded the waterway while maintaining existing traffic and preserving revenues for the canal company. This paper describes the project, which included removing a congested summit of six locks with a vast cutting up to 22 m deep. The canal and its structures remain in full use today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]