2011

SJ7293 : Manchester Ship Canal

taken 13 years ago, near to Irlam, Salford, England

This is 1 of 3 images, with title Manchester Ship Canal in this square
Manchester Ship Canal
Manchester Ship Canal
The dredger, Sospan-Dau, passing under the Irlam Viaduct which carries the main Liverpool-Manchester Railway line over the Manchester Ship Canal just to the west of Irlam Locks. The bridge was built by the Cheshire Lines Committee Railway (CLC) and opened in 1893.
The Manchester Ship Canal

The Manchester Ship Canal, which took six years to build and was opened in 1894, is a 36-mile-long inland waterway linking Manchester to the Irish Sea at Liverpool. It generally follows the original routes of the rivers Mersey and Irwell through the historic counties of Cheshire and Lancashire. Several sets of locks lift vessels about 60 feet up to the Manchester Docks (now Salford Quays), where the canal's terminus was built.

When the ship canal opened in January 1894 it was the largest river navigation canal in the world, and enabled the newly created Port of Manchester to become Britain's third busiest port despite the city being about 40 miles inland. Since its opening, the canal handled a wide range of ships and cargoes, from coastal vessels to intra-European shipping and inter-continental cargo liners; Manchester Liners established regular sailings by large ocean-going vessels.

The amount of freight carried by the canal peaked in 1958 at 18 million long tons but changes to shipping methods and the growth of containerisation during the 1970s and 1980s caused traffic to decline, resulting in the closure of the docks at Salford in 1984. Although able to accommodate a range of vessels from coastal ships to inter-continental cargo liners, the canal is no longer large enough for most modern vessels.


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright David Dixon and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Canals Railways Suburb, Urban fringe Category: Ship canal other tags: Nineteenth Century 19th Century Victorian Railway Bridge Railway Viaduct Manchester Ship Canal Dredger Click a tag, to view other nearby images.
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Irlam Locks [12] · Railway Bridge [7] · Railway Line [6] Title Clusters: · Manchester Ship Canal [3] ·
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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Grid Square
SJ7293, 48 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
David Dixon   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Tuesday, 8 March, 2011   (more nearby)
Submitted
Wednesday, 9 March, 2011
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SJ 7265 9365 [10m precision]
WGS84: 53:26.3346N 2:24.7908W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SJ 7264 9373
View Direction
SOUTH (about 180 degrees)
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Image classification(about): Geograph
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