CanalPlanAC

Manchester Ship Canal (Main Line)

 
 
Information about the waterway

The Manchester Ship Canal (Main Line) is a commercial waterway and is part of the Manchester Ship Canal. It runs for 36 miles through 5 locks from Mersey - Ship Canal Junction (where it joins the River Mersey (Tidal Section)) to Woden Street Footbridge (where it joins the Manchester Ship Canal (River Irwell Upper Reach)).

The maximum dimensions for a boat to be able to travel on the waterway are 72 feet long and 14 feet wide. The maximum headroom is not known. The maximum draught is not known.

It has junctions with the Shropshire Union Canal (Wirral Line - Main Line) at Ellesmere Port Junction; with the Bridgewater Canal (Pomona Lock Branch) at Pomona Dock No 4; with the Manchester Ship Canal (Walton Lock Branch) at Walton Junction; with the Bridgewater Canal (Runcorn Locks Branch) at Bridgewater Canal Junction (closed); with the River Weaver (Main Line) at Delamere Dock Entrance and with the River Weaver (Weston Marsh Lock Line) and the River Weaver (Old River) at Weaver Mouth.

This waterway is excluded by default from route planning with the following explanation: "very large commercial waterway, paperwork necessary"

The navigational authority for this waterway is Peel Ports

Relevant publications — Waterway Maps:

Mersey - Ship Canal Junction
Junction of the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal
Eastham Locks
Entrance to the Manchester Ship Canal
1 mile and 2¾ furlongs 0 locks
Bankfield Wharf 1 mile and 4½ furlongs 1 lock
Hooton Wharf 2 miles 1 lock
Bowaters UK Paper Mills 2 miles and 2½ furlongs 1 lock
Pool Hall Wharf 2 miles and 6¼ furlongs 1 lock
Ellesmere Port Junction
Junction of Shropshire Union and Manchester Ship Canals
2 miles and 7¼ furlongs 1 lock
Ellesmere Port Grain Warehouse 3 miles and 2½ furlongs 1 lock
Stuart Wharf 3 miles and 4¼ furlongs 1 lock
Stanlow Wharf 3 miles and 6 furlongs 1 lock
Associated Ethyl Wharf 3 miles and 6½ furlongs 1 lock
ICI Wharf (Dyestuffs) 3 miles and 7 furlongs 1 lock
Esso Barge Wharf 4 miles 1 lock
Stanlow Oil Docks
Turning point and Stanlow Lay-by
4 miles and 1 furlong 1 lock
Ince Coaster Berth 4 miles and 6½ furlongs 1 lock
Ince Oil Berth 5 miles 1 lock
Ince Tying-up Berth 5 miles and 1 furlong 1 lock
Ince Wharf 6 miles and 4¾ furlongs 1 lock
Holpool Gutter 7 miles and 4 furlongs 1 lock
Frodsham Pumping Stage 8 miles and 4 furlongs 1 lock
Weaver Mouth
Junction of the River Weaver and Manchester Ship Canal
9 miles and 7¼ furlongs 1 lock
Weaver Sluices 10 miles and 1½ furlongs 1 lock
Weston Mersey
Junction with River Mersey
10 miles and 7¼ furlongs 1 lock
Weston Point Docks 11 miles 1 lock
Delamere Dock Entrance
Entrance to Weaver Navigation
11 miles and ¾ furlongs 1 lock
Weston Point Salt Works (ICI) 11 miles and 1 furlong 1 lock
Runcorn Lay-by 11 miles and 2 furlongs 1 lock
Runcorn Docks 11 miles and 4¾ furlongs 1 lock
Bridgewater Canal Junction (closed) 11 miles and 6½ furlongs 1 lock
Runcorn Railway Bridge 12 miles and 1¼ furlongs 1 lock
Widnes Bridge 12 miles and 1½ furlongs 1 lock
Old Quay Lock
Entrance to Runcorn Old Quay
12 miles and 4¾ furlongs 1 lock
Old Quay Swing Bridge 12 miles and 7½ furlongs 1 lock
ICI Wharf (General Chemicals) 13 miles and 1¾ furlongs 1 lock
Astmoor Wharf
ICI (Chemicals and Met.)
13 miles and 7½ furlongs 1 lock
Stone Delph 15 miles and ¼ furlongs 1 lock
Randles Sluices 15 miles and 1½ furlongs 1 lock
Moore Lane Lay-by 16 miles and 2 furlongs 1 lock
Moore Lane Swing Bridge 17 miles and ¼ furlongs 1 lock
Acton Grange Wharf 17 miles and 4¼ furlongs 1 lock
Acton Grange Railway Viaduct 17 miles and 6½ furlongs 1 lock
Chester Road Swing Bridge 18 miles and 6½ furlongs 1 lock
Walton Junction
Junction of Manchester Ship Canal Main Line and Walton Lock Branch
19 miles 1 lock
Northwich Road Swing Bridge 19 miles and 3½ furlongs 1 lock
Latchford High Level Bridge 20 miles and 1 furlong 1 lock
Knutsford Road Swing Bridge 20 miles and 3½ furlongs 1 lock
Latchford Viaduct 20 miles and 6 furlongs 1 lock
Latchford Locks 21 miles 1 lock
Thelwall Pumping Station 21 miles and 5 furlongs 2 locks
Thelwall Ferry 21 miles and 6½ furlongs 2 locks
Stratham Pumping Station No 3
Disused
22 miles and 3¾ furlongs 2 locks
Thelwall Viaduct
Twin motorway bridges
22 miles and 6½ furlongs 2 locks
Rixton Junction
Junction with the River Mersey
23 miles and 7½ furlongs 2 locks
Warburton High Level Bridge 25 miles and 1¼ furlongs 2 locks
Millbank Wharf 25 miles and 7¾ furlongs 2 locks
Cadishead Ferry 26 miles and 3½ furlongs 2 locks
Cadishead Viaduct 26 miles and 7½ furlongs 2 locks
Partingham Coaling Basin 27 miles and 1½ furlongs 2 locks
Irlam Wharf 27 miles and 5¾ furlongs 2 locks
Mersey Weir 28 miles and ¼ furlongs 2 locks
Irlam Viaduct 28 miles and 1 furlong 2 locks
Irlam Locks 28 miles and 3½ furlongs 2 locks
Hulmes Bridge Ferry 28 miles and 5 furlongs 3 locks
Barton Locks Jettys 30 miles and 1¾ furlongs 3 locks
Barton Locks 30 miles and 3¼ furlongs 3 locks
M60 Bridge 31 miles 4 locks
Barton Low Level Bridge 31 miles and ½ furlongs 4 locks
Barton Swing Bridge 31 miles and 6 furlongs 4 locks
Barton Swing Aqueduct Overhead 31 miles and 6½ furlongs 4 locks
Irwell Park Wharf 32 miles and 2¼ furlongs 4 locks
Cerestar Wharf 32 miles and 5¾ furlongs 4 locks
Centenary Bridge (Manchester Ship Canal)
Opened in 1994
33 miles 4 locks
Sewage Works 33 miles and 3½ furlongs 4 locks
Weaste Wharf
Blue Circle wharf
33 miles and 4 furlongs 4 locks
Mode Wheel Locks 33 miles and 7½ furlongs 4 locks
Media City Footbridge 34 miles and 1¾ furlongs 5 locks
Dock No 9 Entrance 34 miles and 2¼ furlongs 5 locks
Imperial War Museum North 34 miles and 2½ furlongs 5 locks
The Lowry 34 miles and 2¾ furlongs 5 locks
Salford Quays Footbridge
Direct access to the Imperial War Museum
34 miles and 3½ furlongs 5 locks
Dock No 8 Entrance 34 miles and 4¼ furlongs 5 locks
Turning Basin
Docks Nos 6, 7 and 8
34 miles and 5 furlongs 5 locks
Trafford Road Swing Bridge 34 miles and 7¾ furlongs 5 locks
Trafford Road Bridge 35 miles 5 locks
Metrolink Bridge 35 miles and 1½ furlongs 5 locks
Pomona Dock No 4
Junction with Branch to Bridgewater Canal
35 miles and 3¼ furlongs 5 locks
Pomona Dock No 1 35 miles and 3¾ furlongs 5 locks
Woden Street Footbridge
Junction of Manchester Ship Canal and River Irwell Upper Reach
36 miles 5 locks
 
 
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External websites
 The Trafford Road Swing Bridge — associated with Trafford Road Swing Bridge
Manchester History
 
Wikipedia

Wikipedia has a page about Manchester Ship Canal

The Manchester Ship Canal is a 36-mile-long (58 km) inland waterway in the North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the Mersey Estuary near 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 (18 m) to the canal's terminus in Manchester. Landmarks along its route include the Barton Swing Aqueduct, the world's only swing aqueduct, and Trafford Park, the world's first planned industrial estate and still the largest in Europe.

The rivers Mersey and Irwell were first made navigable in the early 18th century. Goods were also transported on the Runcorn extension of the Bridgewater Canal (from 1776) and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (from 1830), but by the late 19th century the Mersey and Irwell Navigation had fallen into disrepair and was often unusable. In addition, Manchester's business community viewed the charges imposed by Liverpool's docks and the railway companies as excessive. A ship canal was therefore proposed to give ocean-going vessels direct access to Manchester. The region was suffering from the Long Depression; the canal's proponents argued that the scheme would boost competition and create jobs. They built public support for the scheme, which was first presented to Parliament as a bill in 1882. Faced with stiff opposition from Liverpool, the canal's supporters were unable to gain the necessary Act of Parliament to allow the scheme to go ahead until 1885.

Construction began in 1887; it took six years and cost £15 million (equivalent to about £1.65 billion in 2011). When the ship canal opened in January 1894 it was the largest river navigation canal in the world, and enabled the new Port of Manchester to become Britain's third-busiest port despite being about 40 miles (64 km) inland. Changes to shipping methods and the growth of containerisation during the 1970s and '80s meant that many ships were now too big to use the canal and traffic declined, resulting in the closure of the terminal docks at Salford. Although able to accommodate vessels from coastal ships to intercontinental cargo liners, the canal is not large enough for most modern vessels. By 2011 traffic had decreased from its peak in 1958 of 18 million long tons (20 million short tons) of freight each year to about 7 million long tons (7.8 million short tons). The canal is now privately owned by Peel Holdings, whose plans include redevelopment, expansion, and an increase in shipping from 8,000 containers a year to 100,000 by 2030 as part of their Atlantic Gateway project.

Other Wikipedia pages that might relate to Manchester Ship Canal
[Bridgewater Canal] The canal is connected to the Manchester Ship Canal via a lock at Cornbrook; to the Rochdale Canal in Manchester; to the Trent and Mersey Canal at Preston [Manchester Ship Canal Police] Manchester Ship Canal Police (also known as Manchester Dock Police and the Port of Manchester Police) was a police force in the United Kingdom that was [Canals of the United Kingdom] purpose-built ship canal is the Manchester Ship Canal. Upon opening in 1894, it was the largest ship canal in the world, permitting ships with a length [Port of Manchester] opening of the Manchester Ship Canal. It extended along the whole 36-mile (58 km) length of the ship canal, from Eastham in the west to Manchester in the east [Manchester docks] Manchester docks were a series of nine docks in Salford, Stretford and Manchester at the east end of the Manchester Ship Canal in North West England. They [Trafford Park] Greater Manchester, England, opposite Salford Quays on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, 3.4 miles (5.5 km) southwest of Manchester city centre [River Irwell] downstream of Manchester was permanently altered by the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal which opened in 1896. The canal turned Manchester and Salford [Liverpool–Manchester Megalopolis] and export goods to and from Manchester. Consequently, they decided to build a ship canal, which was the largest ship canal in the world upon opening in [Ship canal] A ship canal is a canal especially intended to accommodate ships used on the oceans, seas, or lakes to which it is connected. Ship canals can be distinguished
 
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