"This is simply two single indin'ed planes in conjunction, expanding from hill to knoll..."
Robert Fulton, engineer
Use of the inclined plane for the transfer of boats between water levels dates back at least to the sixth. century B.C.E., when ships were transported across the Isthmus of Corinth in wheeled cradles. Early Chinese engineers also made use of the principle, employing double slipway constructions in their canals to haul vessels between levels.
Modern inclined planes were pioneered by Italian architect Daviso de Arcort in Northern Ireland in the 1770s. Coal barges were raised or lowered in stages through a total of 190 feet (58 m) onto the Coalisland Canal, drawn on sloped rails by a combination of counterweighting and horsepower. The ambitious project was fraught with problems, and closed in 1787.
In 1778 William Reynolds constructed England's first inclined plane in Shropshire, followed by a steam- driven version on the Shrewsbury Canal, but despite these successes it was American Robert Fulton who claimed the British patent for the canal inclined plane in 1794. Arriving in England in 1786 as a young artist, Fulton soon recast himself as an engineer and proved adept at developing the fledgling ideas of others. Although not regarded as a true inventor, his 1796 Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation did disseminate the principle of the inclined plane throughout France and the United States.
