These type of lock-based canals are really beautiful and elegant pieces of engineering. Capable of lifting hundreds or even thousands of tons up-hill without the use of any motor, or engine and taking advantage of the natural gravity gradient adjacent to naturally occurring streams and rivers. In many ways they're literally powered by the water cycle created by the sun.
It's really interesting to understand that these were the technological state-of-the-art before the steam engine and were among the most advanced means of transportation technology on the planet after the big European sailing ships (which in turn were among the few technologies on the planet for hundreds of years capable of moving humans across around the surface of an entire planet relatively quickly).
Canal tech is so energy efficient that it's possible to move relatively large barges using only human power [1] (though it was far more common to use other large animals like horses or mules).
The Augustow Canal[0][1], on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list, is a nice one that was hailed as a technical marvel in its day. It was originally constructed as the result of high Prussian customs on the Vistula following the partition of Poland. (The Vistula was the principal trade route for Polish trade for centuries. The wealth of historic ports on the Vistula river are a testament to this fact, with something like 60% of Polish grain exports, the most lucrative export by total revenue, taking this route. The partitions divided the river and its ports between Russia, Prussia, and Austria, hence why the canal was built in the Russian partition).
Today, it is a nice scenic waterway for kayaking and other vessels.
It's really interesting to understand that these were the technological state-of-the-art before the steam engine and were among the most advanced means of transportation technology on the planet after the big European sailing ships (which in turn were among the few technologies on the planet for hundreds of years capable of moving humans across around the surface of an entire planet relatively quickly).
Canal tech is so energy efficient that it's possible to move relatively large barges using only human power [1] (though it was far more common to use other large animals like horses or mules).
1 - The painter Ilya Repin famously captured this in a painting called the "Barge Haulers on the Volga" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barge_Haulers_on_the_Volga