1-158-473 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Inclined planes for use on canals, 1796. Top: double inclined plane. Middle: upper works of a single inclined plane. Bottom: upper works of a medium inclined plane powered by a water wheel. The inclined plane could be used to transfer vessels, in this case tub boats, often of iron, from one level of a canal to another without the expense of a flight of locks which could make the building of a canal uneconomic. Plate based on engravings in A Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation by Robert Fulton. (London, 1796).