C. WATER TRANSPORT OR WATERWAYS

C. WATER TRANSPORT OR WATERWAYS Waterways have been used for carrying both men and goods since the earliest times. There are two greatest advantages of water transport. First, it uses existing routes, e.g., rivers, seas and needs no special tracks, except in the case of canals. Second, it is the cheapest form of transport for large, bulky loads. However. the slow speed is the most serious disadvantage of the water transport.

Inland Waterways Inland waterways are very varied, both in their natural form and type of craft they can carry. There are basically three types of inland waterways: rivers, whIch have been modified or canalised, and specially constructed canals.

(a) Rivers Rivers playa vital role in the transport of local products in many parts of the tropics as in the Zaire basin and South-East Asia, where other means of commu­nication are poor or non-existent. However, many rivers in their natural state do not make good modem routes due to the following reasons:
(i) Many rivers, e.g., Ob, Yenisey, Lena, Mackenzie, etc., flow across empty and inhospitable lands into the frozen Arctic Ocean.
(ii) Many large rivers flow through sparsely-peopled
or climatically-hostile areas, e.g., Amazon.
(iii) Due to formation of meander by many rivers,
distance covered by river becomes much longer
than a similar journey by land.
(iv) Few rivers 'are navigable throughout their length.
(v) Many rivers are two short, too shallow or too swift
to be useful for navigation, e.g., rivers of Japan.
Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines.
(vi) Many rivers, such as Volga in Russia, freeze in
winter.
(vi) The largest rivers are usually subject to silting.

(b) Canalised Rivers Most of the major navigable rivers of the world, e.g., the St. Lawrence, the Rhine, the Elbe, the Rhone, have been dredged, dammed, or canalised to fit them for efficient modem transport.

(c) Canals Canals are specially constructed channels for either ocean-going or inland vessels. The great advan­tages of canal building are that canals can be constructed where no natural navigable water exists. Also, canals are not subject to natural hazards. Canals are an important means of transport in some region, notably northern Europe, where, together with modified rivers, they form very extensive network linking all the major industrial areas.