Manchester Ship Canal
The
Manchester Ship Canal (MSC) is a wide, 36-mile-long river navigation in
North West England, opened on
21 May 1894.
The "Big Ditch" (as it is said to be known to locals) consists of the
River Irwell and
River Mersey made navigable to Manchester for seagoing ships leaving the Mersey Estuary at
Eastham Locks on the north side of the
Wirral Peninsula. It turned Manchester from a landlocked city into a major Irish Sea port.
The canal was built as a way to reverse the economic decline that Manchester suffered during the late
19th century, by ensuring the city had direct access to the sea to export its manufactured goods, and so would not have to rely for sea access on the nearby
Port of Liverpool. It was championed by Manchester manufacturer
Daniel Adamson. He arranged a meeting at his home (The Towers, in
Didsbury) on
27 June 1882, inviting representatives of several
Lancashire towns, Manchester businessmen, local politicians and two
civil engineers, Hamilton Fulton and
Edward Leader Williams. Both engineers were invited to submit proposals, and Williams' plans were selected to form the basis of a Bill submitted to
Parliament in November
1882. However, due to intense opposition by Liverpool and
railway companies, the
Act of Parliament enabling the canal was not passed until
6 August 1885. The promoters then had two years in which to raise £5 million to cover initial construction costs, and to purchase the
Bridgewater Canal. Construction of the ship canal eventually started on
11 November 1887.
Large portions of the eventual cost of building were borne by Manchester rate-payers, via
Manchester City Corporation. Loans were arranged during the early 1890s on condition that the Corporation held 11 of the 21 seats on the Canal Company's board of directors led by
John Aird, an engineering contractor and MP. Following the death of the previous contractor (Thomas Walker), Aird's firm completed the Ship Canal.
More than 54 million cubic yards (41,000,000 m³) of material were excavated for the canal, including 12 million cubic yards (9,000,000 m³) of
sandstone rock. At its peak, the project involved some 17,000 workers. In terms of machinery, the scheme called upon 228 miles (367 km) of temporary rail track, 173 locomotives, 6,300 trucks and wagons, 124 steam-powered cranes and 192 other
steam engines (mainly used for pumping purposes). Work was twice delayed by water flooding into sections of the excavation, in November
1890 and December
1891.
Major engineering landmarks of the scheme included the
Barton Swing Aqueduct (carrying the Bridgewater Canal over the Ship Canal) and a neighbouring
swing bridge for road traffic at
Barton.
The canal was finally completely filled with water in November
1893, and opened to its first traffic on
1 January 1894.
The construction of the canal was overseen by the chief engineer and designer
Edward Leader Williams, who was knighted by
Queen Victoria at the official opening on
21 May 1894.
North-west of
Ellesmere Port, on a narrow stretch of land between the Canal and the River Mersey,
Mount Manisty is a huge mound of earth created from extracted soil from the construction of the Canal. Its name - and that of the adjacent Manisty Cutting - came from the contractor's agent on the Eastham section, Mr Manisty, who was well liked by the
navvies due to the entertainments he and his wife provided.[
1]
From Eastham, the canal runs parallel to, and along the south side of, the River Mersey, past
Ellesmere Port and, having intercepted flows from the
River Weaver, then passes around
Runcorn. Between
Warrington and
Flixton the canal borrows the route of the Mersey, and between there and
Salford follows the course of the
River Irwell.
The canal terminates just past
Pomona Docks, Manchester. Today, a fixed road bridge separates Pomona Docks from
Salford Quays, meaning only some boats can make the full trip to Pomona Docks. Most vessels have to terminate at Salford Quays.
The MSC is the eighth-longest
ship canal in the world, being only slightly shorter than the
Panama Canal in
Central America.
Upon completion, the MSC ensured that Manchester became Britain's third busiest port, despite being 40 miles (60 km) inland.
Unlike most British canals, the MSC and the Bridgewater Canal were never
nationalised and remain in the ownership of the Manchester Ship Canal Company, a subsidiary of
Peel Holdings.
Today, due largely to the decline in manufacturing industry and the fact that many ocean-going ships are too large to fit in the MSC, the amount of freight carried on the MSC has declined, although around eight million tonnes are still transported on the canal each year.
While the canal was built for ocean-going ships, ship sizes have long outgrown the canal.
In 2005 the maximum length of ship accepted into the canal was 170.68 m with a beam of 21.94 m. However, beams of around 23 m are acceptable with a smaller length. Maximum
draught is 8.78 m.
The QEII Dock at the entrance to the canal can accept vessels up to 208.79 m long with a 28 m beam, maximum draught 10 m.
While many ships are designed specifically to fit the
Suez and
Panama canals (
Suezmax,
Panamax), the narrower MSC is not of major importance for shipping.
*
Canals of the United Kingdom*
Waterways in the United Kingdom*
Manchester Ship Canal homepage*
Virtual Tour*
The Manchester Ship Canal by W.T. Perkins
