Technology, Economics and Canal Development - An Early Technical Book and What it Reveals

By Mike Clarke (Including a translation by Mike Clkarke of Instructions for the Design and Implementation of Navigable Canals by Sebastian Von Maillard)

Published by the Railway and Canal Historical Society in 2021, 240 pages. Large Hardback - c.21cm by 29.5cm (N8171)

Brand New Book

From the rear side cover: Detailed engineering information about their construction, written at the time narrow canals were being built, is limited. This book is perhaps the most comprehensive on the subject, and was written by an Austrian engineer who visited England to see the English canal system in 1795. He returned to Vienna to build what was, in effect, an English narrow canal.

Sebastian Maillard was an engineering officer in the Hapsburg army, and was one of the leading technically-educated engineers in Europe, using what was advanced mathematics for the time to help design canal structures. He, and other European engineers, used higher mathematics to a greater extent than engineers in England. He also wrote books on the steam engine, cements and mortars, and bridges and arches, all subjects which were at the forefront of civil engineering research at the time.

Maillard's canal book has been translated by Mike Clarke, who has been researching international waterways history for thirty years, though is best known for his work on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. Mike has written a series of short papers to help readers understand this book. These look at the history of inland waterways in the Hapsburg Empire; the origins of canal development in the 18th century and how this was influenced by local economics; the importance of narrow canal construction in England and internationally; and how the craftsman and technical education influenced the development of the industrial revolution. Mike, as with L. 'LC, Rolt, served his time as a craft apprentice, and both were concerned that the importance of the craftsman was being ignored by industrial historians. Mike explains the role played by the craftsman, as well as why they have a lower social status in England, compared to much of the rest of Europe.

The book is illustrated throughout with lots of black and white photographs, maps, drawings and line diagrams