American canals c. 1825 Competitiveness, from railways in the 1830s and roads within the 20th century, created the scaled-down canals obsolete for many business transport, and lots of the British canals fell into decay. Just the Manchester Ship Canal and also the Aire and Calder Canal bucked this craze. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A07qHOeWON8