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waterway

(wô'tər-wā', wŏt'ər-) pronunciation

A navigable body of water, such as a river, channel, or canal.
A channel at the edge of a ship's deck to drain away water.

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US Military Dictionary: waterway

n. a river, canal, or other route for travel by water.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

Columbia Encyclopedia: waterway,

natural or artificial navigable inland body of water, or system of interconnected bodies of water, used for transportation, may include a lake, river, canal, or any combination of these. The existence of waterways has been an important factor in the development of regions, for the waterways have served first as paths of exploration and new settlement and later as avenues of commerce and trade. Although slower than rail, road, and air transport, water shipping is less expensive and accommodates such bulk cargoes as coal, ores, grain, and lumber. Navigation on waterways may be improved by the construction of canals, dams, locks, levees, and dikes; channeling straightens and shortens water courses, and dredging deepens the channel. Waterways vary in size from shallow barge-carrying rivers and canals to the deep seaways that accommodate oceangoing vessels. Waterways are often of international importance, either because they border or run through more than one country or because other nations wish to use them for trade; a number of these waterways have been internationalized. For purposes of navigation, irrigation, and flood control, humans have changed the natural flow of waterways. The consequences of such changes have often led to excessive erosion or an increase in flooding.

Word Tutor: waterway

IN BRIEF: A navigable body of fluid, such as a canal.

The Panama Canal is a waterway connecting the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean.

Wikipedia: waterway

For the suburb of Melbourne in Victoria (Australia), see Waterways, Victoria.

A waterway is any navigable body of water. These include rivers, lakes, oceans, and canals. In order for a waterway to be navigable, it must meet several criteria:

The waterway must be deep enough to allow the draft depth of the vessels using it;
The waterway must be wide enough to allow passage for the beam width of the vessels using it;
The waterway must be free of barriers to navigation such as waterfalls and rapids, or have a way around them (such as canal locks);
The current of the waterway must be mild enough to allow vessels to make headway.

Vessels using waterways vary from small animal-drawn barges to immense ocean tankers and ocean liners, such as cruise ships.

Canals

Canals are waterways that are constructed to provide a new path of travel for vessels (as opposed to improving a natural waterway along its current course). At one time, canals were built mostly for small wooden barges drawn by horses or other draft animals. Today, major canals are built to allow passage of large ocean-going vessels. See Ship Canal.

Tidal waterway

A tidal waterway is a waterway that is open to the sea and is therefore subject to tidal movements. Non-tidal waterways are inland waterways often separated from the sea by navigation locks.

		Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		US Military Dictionary. The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. Copyright © 2001, 2002 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
		Word Tutor. Copyright © 2004-present by eSpindle Learning, a 501(c) nonprofit organization. All rights reserved. eSpindle provides personalized spelling and vocabulary tutoring online; free trial. Read more
		Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Waterway". Read more
		Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. Read more

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waterway

Canals

Tidal waterway

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