The proposal to construct a Birmingham Ship Canal has been
revived in real earnest, and the Times of Monday gives a detailed account of the route which has finally been decided on. Instead of striking for the Severn, which was the old proposal, and one recommended by its comparatively slight cost, the Mersey estuary has been chosen as the point of con- nection with the sea. The canal will run right through the Potteries and the Black Country; and in spite of the network of railways and canals on the surface, and of the honeycomb of both deep and shallow coal-workings below ground, the engineers declare the scheme perfectly feasible. The ground between Birmingham and the Mersey in some parts rises more than 400 ft. above the sea-level ; but this impediment is to be got over partly by deep cuttings and partly by huge hydraulic lifts, which in one place will enable the canal to dive under two railways and another canal. The minimum width of the water-way is to be 72 ft., but it is only to accommodate vessels and barges of from 300 to 400 tons,—unlike the Manchester Canal in this respect, which, when completed, will float the biggest ocean steamers. The total length is to be about eighty miles. It must be noted that the failure of the Railway Rates Act to appreciably lower the Companies' charges is the real parent of the new scheme.
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