I cannot see this having a hope post 1900 because of the railways and i'm not sure if the engineering is possible before the time of railway mania and it may actually be an ASB subject but i'll put it here.
What is the Grand Contour Canal had been built but built sooner?
As mentioned, its going to have to be before the railway mania but does the engineering knowledge exist to do it?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Contour_Canal
The
Grand Contour Canal in
England and
Wales was intended to enhance and upgrade the
British canal system, but was never built. This canal was proposed in 1943, and again ten years later, by J F Pownall . Mr Pownall observed that there was a natural '
contour' down the spine of England, around the 300 ft level that connected several of the most populated areas. He put forward the idea that this contour could be used to define the course of a large European sized canal which contained no locks except at its entry and exit points. It would also serve as a
water grid capable of distributing domestic water supply around England as need arises.
The proposal would have accommodated 300-ton continental-size barges.
[1] Feeder conduit canals at the same contour level would have been used to bring water into the system from
North Wales,
The Pennines and the
South West Peninsula.
It was also named
The Three-hundred-foot Canal for its height above sea level, 310 feet (94 m). It was to be 100 feet (30 m) wide by 17 feet (5.2 m) deep, with 25 feet (7.6 m) headroom.
It was intended to connect the major industrial centres of
London,
Bristol,
Southampton,
Coventry,
Birmingham,
Nottingham,
Derby,
Chester,
Manchester,
Blackburn,
Bradford,
Hartlepool and
Newcastle, with vertical
lift locks at the nine termini, having tanks 250 feet (76 m) by 35 feet (11 m) by 14 feet (4.3 m) draught. A 6-mile (9.7 km) long
tunnel was proposed between
Airedale and
Ribblesdale.
The scheme was intended both for transport and for a
water supply grid, for water distribution is a major problem in
London and
South East England.
