WATER ENGINEERING The Rideau is the best-preserved example of a slackwater canal in North America. John By’s contribution lay in his decision not to dig a traditional trench for the entire length. Instead, man-made structures – the dams and locks – account for less than ten percent of the overall system: 19 km (out of 202). By damming the rivers, the engineer raised water levels to drown rapids and connect existing lakes, making the route navigable even for large vessels. He faced impenetrable granite and treacherous wetlands, drawing on extraordinary technical ingenuity to complete the work in just six years, between 1826 and 1832. While the canal was never actually used for military defence, it opened central Canada to trade and settlement, establishing Bytown – the city we know today as Ottawa – and shaping its community. This engineering marvel came at a staggering human price. The project relied on a force of approximately 5,000 labourers. While skilled tradesmen were often of Scottish or English descent, the backbreaking manual labour was performed mostly by recent Irish immigrants and French Canadians drawn by the promise of steady work. Conditions were brutal. Workers lived in crude shanty towns or swamps, plagued by insects, dysentery and malaria. Working from dawn until dusk through extreme Canadian seasons, hundreds succumbed to disease and construction injuries: some estimates rounded up to 1,000 the casualties. Today, memorials and cemeteries from Ottawa to Kingston stand as a tribute to these workers whose »backbreaking work was indispensable« to the birth of the nation. Even the man at the helm, Colonel By, did not escape the project unscathed. Despite delivering one of the world’s great engineering feats, he was formally reprimanded by his superiors for overspending. When he died, in 1836, his reputation was in tatters: indeed, an undeserved end for the visionary who secured Canada’s waterways and gave Ottawa its start. « DURING SPRING AND SUMMER, THE WATERS ARE ALIVE WITH COLOURFUL BOATERS. » 102 read more
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTA3NTQ=