The Canal on the James, by Gibson Hobbs, shows the Kanawha Canal lock
locations and history. Four Virginia river atlases, The James River Batteau
Festival Trail, The Upper James Atlas, The Rivanna Scenic River Atlas, and
The Maury River Atlas, show all the locks and the canal route. A driving
guide is in The Works of the James River & Kanawha Company from the City of
Richmond to the Ohio River. All of these publications are available from the
Virginia Canals and Navigations Society, www.vacanals.org.
The locks on the Kanawha Canal had chambers 15 feet by 100 feet, designed
for boats up to 14-1/2 feet wide and 92 or 93 feet long. The C&O Canal was
the same - this was a standard size for a number of American canals. The
locks on the K&A are indeed large for the UK, for boats up to 13' 10" wide
and 73 feet long, compared with most of the locks in the UK which are
smaller, for narrow boats, up to 7-1/2 feet wide and 70 some feet long
(about the size of James River Batteaux).
We tell people in the US to go to the UK - England, Scotland and Ireland -
where you get to work the locks yourself, to experience canal boating as it
was here. The canal system there is one of the greatest national parks in
the world, and the K&A is one of the best of the restored canals in England.
Please send me a copy of your two-page report!
In America, you can take your boat along the Erie Canal, and on the Canadian
canal system, and the rest of the surviving inland waterways. And you can
take short historical rides in canal parks - see the section on canal boat
rides on the American Canal Society web site, www.americancanals.org.
Richmond has canal boat rides downtown with a great historical narration,
and more watered canal which we hope someday will be opened to longer boat
trips.
Virginia has few operating canals, but you can see many of the stone locks
and culverts by paddling the rivers. And on the James, every year the canal
society runs the week-long James River Batteau Festival, with batteau
replicas, canoeists and kayakers navigating the river from Lynchburg to
(almost) Richmond, shooting river sluices made over two centuries ago, and
passing by Kanawha canal sites on the bank. There will be about 20 batteaux
this year, re-enacting a once-lost art. The schedule of stops is on
www.batteau.org. Visitors can camp with us at all the stops, browse through
our atlases, and tell us what they know. Hope you can visit or even paddle
or pole along with us. Please bring your report on your K&A canal trip, and
play for us "The Wreck of the Maiden's Adventure" (to the tune of "The Wreck
of the Old '97") on the riverbank.
Nancy and Bill Trout
Swamp Girl and Batteau Bill
Volunteer Consulting Canal Detectives
417 Phillips Street, Edenton NC 27932
252-482-5946, [log in to unmask]
Virginia Canals & Navigations Society, www.batteau.org
Bulletin Board, [log in to unmask]
American Canal Society, www.americancanals.org
The American Canal Guide, www.americancanals.org
Archeological Society of Virginia, www.asv-archeology.org
The Virginia River Atlas series, www.vacanals.org/store
Index to rivers covered in the Virginia River Atlas Series:
www.americancanals.org/Virginia_update.htm
"When going into uncharted waters, you'd like to
have a road map" (Judge James B. Wilkinson)
"Wonder what the Trouts are up to."
Clive Cussler, in The Serpent
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Smith at dhova" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2011 11:08 AM
Subject: James River Kanawha Canal specs
My wife and I have just returned from a week piloting a BIG (28tons) boat on
the Kennet and Avon Canal in England. I think the size of the locks and
other dimensions of the JRK Canal are about the same but do not know. Where
can I find the specifications of the locks, the canal itself, and the
location of the locks?
Randy Cabell
PS let me know if you want a two page summary of what we did, with photos.
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