The Denison Canal is a man-made

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

located at Dunalley in southern

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, Australia. The canal opened for use in 1905 and draws its name from former

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

William Denison Sir William Thomas Denison (3 May 1804 – 19 January 1871) was Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land from 1847 to 1855, Governor of New South Wales from 1855 to 1861, and Governor of Madras from 1861 to 1866. According to Percival S ...

. The canal was built to shorten the fishing and trade routes between the east coast and

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

History

Proposals to dig a canal through the

East Bay Neck East Bay Neck refers to an isthmus connecting the Forestier Peninsula to the mainland of Tasmania. East Bay Neck is formed by Dunalley Bay Dunalley Bay refers to a bay on the North East aspect of Norfolk Bay, which lies adjacent to Dunalley, T ...

were first made in 1820. However, no serious consideration was given to a canal until William Denison became governor in 1847. Denison had previously worked on the

Rideau Canal The Rideau Canal, also known unofficially as the Rideau Waterway, connects Canada's capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, to Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence River at Kingston. It is 202 kilometres long. The name ''Rideau'', French for "curtain", ...

in Canada, and commissioned a report into the possibility of building a canal at East Bay Neck in 1854. However, no work took place on the project. Construction of the canal was revived early in the 20th century. The Tasmanian Government sought tenders for the project in 1901, and the firm Henrikson and Knutson were selected after lodging the lowest price (£17,999). The canal was designed by Napier Bell. While the contract specified that the canal was to be completed by 29 May 1904, the start of work on the project was delayed by negotiations over whether Henrikson and Knutson or the Tasmanian Government would retain ownership of the equipment needed to build the canal once it was complete. The canal was finally opened by Governor Sir Gerald Strickland on 13 October 1905. At this time it was reported to be the second-longest canal in Australia. The Denison Canal was bridged by a hand-operated swing bridge until 1965, when a larger and electrically operated bridge was installed.

Characteristics

The Denison Canal is long, or long if its dredged approaches are included. It is wide at ground level, dropping to at low tide. Water depth varies from at high tide to at low tide. While the canal was once able to be used by small trading vessels, only small fishing and recreation boats can now pass through the shifting sand bars in

Blackman Bay Blackman Bay is located on the south-east coast of Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoo ...

on the eastern approaches to the canal.

History

Characteristics

See also

References

Further reading