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A comment on The Erie Canal: The man-made waterway that transformed the US.

Re:The Erie Canal: The man-made waterway that transformed th... by hsag on Thursday July 18, 2024 @09:57AM (#40995632)
The Erie Canal is such an underrated marvel of engineering! Imagine the impact it had back in the 19th century—transforming trade, boosting the economy, and helping shape modern America. It's like the internet of its time, connecting regions and enabling commerce on a whole new level. Anyone else think we need to appreciate historical infrastructure more? It’s fascinating how these projects laid the groundwork for the society we have today.
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Re:The Erie Canal: The man-made waterway that transformed th... by pchristensen on Thursday July 18, 2024 @11:51AM (#40996851)
I highly recommend The Path Between the Seas, about the building of the Panama Canal - https://www.amazon.com/Path-Between-Seas-Creation-1870-1914/...

I didn't realize how important that project was to the strengthening of the federal government, government stimulus, public health, American industry exports, etc. It also showed how sophisticated things like investing and lobbying were 130 years ago - I thought those were newer concepts.

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Re:The Erie Canal: The man-made waterway that transformed th... by pfdietz on Thursday July 18, 2024 @05:40PM (#41000034)
Very militarily important too (it would enable the US fleet to cover both coasts) which is why Teddy Roosevelt pushed for it.
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Re:The Erie Canal: The man-made waterway that transformed th... by gregoriol on Thursday July 18, 2024 @11:11AM (#40996308)
There are many canals like this in France and Europe: one huge engineering feat was for example the "Canal du Midi" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal_du_Midi) + "Canal latéral à la Garonne" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal_Latéral_de_la_Garonne): which together connect the Atlantic ocean with the mediterranean in the south of France, without going around Spain or through some dangerous rivers. They were built in 16xx and 18xx!

And connecting these two was particularly difficult because they had to find a source of water big enough and high enough to provide water to both.

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