One of the most notable features of the engineering and commercial development of to-day is the movement, elsewhere alluded to, for making ship canals with the view of converting inland towns into seaports. The Manchester Ship Canal, now well advanced towards completion, undoubtedly gave the first impulse and has since supplied the impetus to this movement. Whether the movement will proceed much farther than plans and prospectuses remains to be seen. But at the present moment the principal proposals affecting the United Kingdom are—
1. The construction of a National canal, passing right through from the Bristol Channel to the Humber on the one side, and from the Thames to the Mersey on the other.
2. The conversion of the existing waterways into a ship canal, between Sheffield and Goole.
3. The construction of a ship canal between the Forth and the Clyde.
4. The construction of a canal from the Irish Sea to Birkenhead through Wallasey Pool and the Wirral Peninsula.
5. The construction of a ship canal between the Mersey and the city of Birmingham, connecting with the Manchester Ship Canal and the Mersey, by way of the Weaver Navigation.
6. A canal to connect the city and district of Birmingham, with the river Trent, and thereby with the North Sea.
7. An improved waterway between the Midlands and the Thames.
8. The improvement of the Wiltshire and Berkshire canal, so as to give better inland water transport between Bristol and London.