THE GEOGRAPHY OF TRANSPORT SYSTEMS
| Year Built | Name | Extent |
| 540-1320 | Grand Canal | Beijing - Hangzhou (2,500 km) |
| 11th Century | Naviglio Grande | Milan - Adriatic (30 km) |
| 1390-97 | Stecknitz Canal | Elbe - Trave (11 km) |
| 1604-42 | Briare Canal | Seine - Loire (58 km) |
| 1667-81 | Canal du Midi | Garonne - Mediterranean (279 km) |
| 1732 | Ladoga canal | St. Petersburg - Volga (110 km) |
| 1759-61 | Bridgewater Canal | Worsley - Manchester (16 km) |
| 1784-1833 | Rhine-Rhone canal | Strasburg-Mulhouse-Burgundy (319 km) |
| 1810-24 | North Sea canal | Amsterdam - North Sea (20 km) |
| 1817-25 | Erie canal | Buffalo - Albany (544 km) |
| 1836-45 | Ludwigskanal | Main - Danube (172 km) |
| 1838-54 | Rhine - Marne canal | Saverne gap (314 km) |
| 1859-69 | Suez canal | Mediterranean - Red Sea (112 km) |
| 1894 | Manchester Ship Canal | Manchester - Liverpool (64 km) |
| 1887-95 | Kiel canal | Baltic Sea - North Sea (99 km) |
| 1906-14 | Panama canal | Atlantic Ocean - Pacific Ocean (80 km) |
| 1905-38 | Mittellandkanal | Rhine - Elbe (320 km) |
Source: adapted from Leibrand, K. (1970) Transportation and Town Planning, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, p. 24.