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The Louth Navigation was a canalisation of the River Lud. It ran for from Louth in Lincolnshire, England, to Tetney Haven, at the mouth of the Humber. It was authorised by Act of Parliament in 1763 and completed in 1770, under the supervision of the engineer John Grundy, Jr. and then by James Hogard. Eight locks were required to overcome the difference in altitude, six of which were constructed with sides consisting of four elliptical bays, a design only ever used on this canal in Britain. The Act did not provide the normal provisions for raising capital for the construction, as finance could only be obtained by leasing of the tolls. When completed, the commissioners leased the tolls to Charles Chaplin, who held ten shares and was also a commissioner, for an initial period of seven years. When the lease was due for renewal, no other takers were found, and Chaplin was granted a 99-year lease, despite the fact that the Act did not authorise such an action. He collected the tolls but failed to maintain the navigation. When complaints were received, a new Act of Parliament was obtained in 1828, to alter the tolls and legalise Chaplin's long lease. The lease was transferred to two railway companies in 1847, and reverted to the commissioners in 1876. The operation was a moderate success until the beginning of the twentieth century, when there was a rapid decline in income, and the canal formally closed in 1924. Because the canal also acted as a channel for land drainage, it was not subject to infilling, and is now a designated main river, managed by the Environment Agency, with drainage of the surrounding land managed by the Lindsey Marsh Internal Drainage Board. It acts as a feeder for Covenham Reservoir, from which treated water enters the public water supply. Water from Waithe Dike supplements the supply, effectively flowing upstream along the canal, and when required, additional water is pumped into the canal along a pipeline from the Great Eau. The Louth Navigation Trust was formed in 1986 to promote the canal as an amenity, and has established a base in a restored canal warehouse in Louth. A feasibility study for restoring the canal for navigation was commissioned in 2004, and the Trust is hoping that this could be a reality by 2020. ==History== Despite being separated from the sea by a low coastal plain, which made contact with the wider world difficult, Louth had become a prosperous market town with a forward-looking town corporation by the eighteenth century. Realising that a link to the North Sea would provide opportunities for trade and expansion, they commissioned the engineer John Grundy, Jr. to survey a route in October 1756. He suggested a route from Louth to Tetney Haven, and on 28 January 1760, subscriptions were invited to pay for a full survey and an Act of Parliament. The fund soon reached £850, and on 18 February 1760 the town clerk approached John Smeaton to carry out this survey. Smeaton advised caution, suggesting that they obtained the consent of as many landowners as possible before proceeding with a bill, as opposition in Parliament could be difficult to counter. In August, Smeaton reviewed Grundy's plans, which was for a river navigation. Cuts would be made to straighten the River Lud, and a sea sluice and lock would be provided where the river joined the Humber. The length would be a little over , and nine more locks would be required along its course, together with several bridges. Costs for different sizes of canal were provided, from £15,590 for a two barge canal to £10,884 for a canal suitable for lighters drawing . The committee than asked Grundy to accompany them to Lincoln Races, where they would show the plans to the Noblemen and Gentlemen. This produced a favourable response, and with little local opposition, the pace of the project slowed. The reports were printed in September 1761, and the bill was submitted to Parliament on 6 December 1762. The canal obtained its Act of Parliament on 24 March 1763, but it did not contain proper provision for raising the capital needed to build the canal. Money could only be borrowed against the expected tolls, and this caused difficulties. On 30 May, the commissioners tried to find someone willing to lend £14,000, in return for all of the tolls. A year later, they tried to raise £12,000 in transferrable shares of £100 each, but the uptake on these was slow. However, by 13 February 1765, the full amount had been subscribed, and Grundy was engaged as Chief Engineer at a salary of £300 per year. He employed James Hogard as resident engineer, and work began in March. By mid 1767, the outfall sluice and lock at Tetney Haven had been completed, as had the first of cut. The cut was of sufficient depth that water levels were around below the land surface, so that the navigation could act as a land drain as well as a canal. The first from Tetney Haven to Fire Beacon Lane were opened in May 1767. Hogard then took over from Grundy as Chief Engineer, at a salary of £140 per year, and began the construction of the final section including seven locks. Additional subscriptions had to be found to fund the work, but eventually the navigation reached Riverhead basin at Louth, and a formal opening was held in May 1770. The total cost was £27,500. At Louth, the River Lud was diverted from its original course to the north of the Riverhead basin, and followed a new course along its south side. It supplied Bain's Water Mill, from which water discharged into the basin to maintain its level. When the mill was not in use, water levels were topped up through a diameter culvert, which passed under a stables and granary to reach the basin. Initially, the commercial community around Riverhead was separate from the main centre of population in Louth, but after the coming of the railway, ribbon development resulted in the two areas being connected. Six of the eight locks were built in an unusual way with the sides of the lock chambers consisting of four elliptical bays, to help them resist soil movement in the surrounding ground. It is not known which of the engineers involved in the construction designed the locks, which are unique in Britain. The two other locks had conventional straight walls. The locks were not built to a standard size, varying in length between and in width between , although all had a depth of over the sill, to cater for the keels and sloops that used the navigation. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Louth Navigation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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