Erie Canal and the like...

[kalos72]

Anyone have any thoughts about the continued usefulness of these sorts of systems? How dependent on electricity would they be? Could they be modified to work off slave power lets say?

[pmulcahy11b]

Lot's of canals have to be dredged regularly (and usually frequently) to continue functioning. (That includes canals as big as the Suez, BTW.) They'll silt up fast. According to Life after People, most smaller canals will turn into marshes and meadows in less than a century. Larger ones will just take longer to block up.

An interesting thought about the world's major canals is that, even if not nuked, and even if the locks still function (or can be put into working order), there might be so much shipping sunk in them that they still could not be used. The Suez, for example, was unusable until after the 1956 war -- and it had been put out of action to all but the smallest ships in 1948 by sunken ships.

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by kalos72

Could they be modified to work off slave power lets say?

Don't need slaves -- just capture some of the billions of rats that will be running around. Put them in a big wheel, dangle some cheese in front of them...

[jester]

most canals have locks for the water at various chambers is not the same level. SO, if one were to get inovative add a water turbine so as the lock fills it spins the turbine and poof you have power.

I saw a program years ago on the panama canal, and to move the lock doors it took a 4 horse power engine. As for the silting issue, that is where your slaves come into use, or prisoners, and most likely that muck and silt would make some wonderful soil for crops.

[Targan]

Didn't we have a lengthy discussion on the old forum about canal systems that might still be useable in T2K? Maybe it is in the archives.

[kato13]

Originally Posted by Targan

Didn't we have a lengthy discussion on the old forum about canal systems that might still be useable in T2K? Maybe it is in the archives.

Not in the archive but from the early posts

CANALS as transportation

[Targan]

Excellent, thanks Kato.

[headquarters]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

Don't need slaves -- just capture some of the billions of rats that will be running around. Put them in a big wheel, dangle some cheese in front of them...

waste perfectly good rat meat like that !
what kind of a campaign are you running, man !

[Mohoender]

I have no clue for canals outside of Europe, West and East, but in Europe several could be in working order. Most of our canals had been doubled because of the increase in ship size and these new ones would put out of commission. However, the older ones are still in use (essentially for leisure) and in working order. Pound locks often don't really need modern powerization (slave labor could be an option) and many boat lifts were using and still use gravity alone.

Ocean canals should be out of use. I have no doubt that both the Suez and Panama Canal would have been targeted by nukes. I kept the Panama Canal in working order and under Civgov control but that's only for convenience.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by Mohoender

Ocean canals should be out of use. I have no doubt that both the Suez and Panama Canal would have been targeted by nukes. I kept the Panama Canal in working order and under Civgov control but that's only for convenience.

In my campaign the Panama Canal was closed to shipping after the Soviet Navy announced that they had placed nuclear mines in the canal in late 1997 or early 1998 (I don't have my notes available). The canal and most of Panama later came under the control of France after US forces withdrew back to the States.

Borrowing from Cyberpunk 2020's history, in my campaign there ended up being a combined force of US and allied personnel dubbed "Team Panama" who ended up having to make their own way back to the States after US control of Panama collapsed. Team Panama was mostly made up of various special forces types (including Green Berets, SEALs and ISA) who had been deployed either in Panama or in nearby countries and had regrouped and incorporated allied personnel who had also not made it out. Once Major Po's unit made it back to the CONUS it ended up absorbing more than a dozen members of Team Panama partly because of previous contacts and friendships between members of his team and Team Panama.

[Mohoender]

Targ

I love your idea of nuclear mines in the Suez Canal.

[Legbreaker]

I think mining canals probably wouldn't work - there's too small an area in which to hide them and so they would be found and dealt with very quickly.
Mining the approaches would be a better option, but again, after sufficent time (and resources) were dedicated, they would be cleared.

Such important waterways would not remain blocked by such methods for long. It's in everyones interests, besides those who laid them of course, to clear the way for trade, etc. It could even provoke nations not already in the war (you mined our major trade route!!! BANG! )

[Mohoender]

You're definitely right Leg but you pull all the poetry out of it, sob!