The Lugwig Canal

[Kaiser Kirk]

King Lugwig I of Bavaria ordered the construction of a Rhine-Danube Canal.
Begun in 1836, it was complete by 1846. The canal stretched from Kelheim to Bamberg, a distance of 172km.

The canal, however, was complicated by 100 locks, it was shallow and narrow and could not transit large amounts of tonnage.

Canal volume peaked in 1850, and then declined as the growth of the railroad network provided a quicker, easier and cheaper alternative.

Now barely used, it still serves to connect the two great river systems.

The canal itself had
a depth of 1.46 m and a bed
width of 9.3 m, while it reached
a water level of 15.8 m: sufficient
dimensions for the 80-120-ton

The french wikipedia seems to indicate a maximum dimension of 32m x 4.5m.

http://cms.bayerischerjura.de/cms

Primary Source : http://www.andre-kraut.de/kanal/index_en.html
Dimensions : http://cms.bayerischerjura.de/cms

[maddox]

Pity, as most French canals of that day had the dimensions of 39.3*5.05m (38m with the rudder extended)

[Borys]

Ahoj!
Maybe German canals were shallow in general?
The Jade-Ems canal, which I believe was used to bring coal to the Wilhelshaven naval base, was 2m deep or something like that ...
Borys

[Kaiser Kirk]

I would speculate that the French canals were more successful with the greater dimensions allowing more commercially viable traffic.

I will note that my later efforts on finding the limiting depth of the Upper Rhine found that quite shallow. Vessels which could transit the Lugwig Canal could also ascend the Rhine. 

Otherwise, I just don't know.

[maddox]

The French canals had the main advantage of better geography.

Especialy op north, the area next to Flanders is about as flat as a freshly rolled pizza, with a high groundwater table and strong clayline soil.