John ByBorn 7 Aug 1779; died 1 Feb 1836 at age 56. English military engineer who constructed the 126-mile (202-km) Rideau Canal connecting the Ottawa River and Lake Ontario, Canada, which was originally intended as a military supply route. It was designed to provide an alternative to the St. Lawrence River route which was vulnerable in case of war with the U.S., which was seen as a possibility after the American Revolution. Work began in 1826 near the junction of the Ottawa and Rideau rivers. Engineering challenges included an arched dam at Jones Falls with four locks with a total lift of 60 feet (three locks, a turning basin and a fourth lock). When the waterway was opened in Spring 1832, Lt. Col. By returned to England. The settlement that grew at the canal's mouth, at first known as Bytown, was named Ottawa in 1855, and is now the nation's capital.«[Note: for comparison, the Panama Canal is 51 miles long.] |
