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A waterway is any navigable body of water
Body of water

A body of water is any significant accumulation of water, usually covering the Earth or another planet. The term body of water most often refers to large accumulations of water, such as oceans, seas, and lakes, but it may also include smaller pools of water such as ponds, puddles or wetlands....
. These include river
River

A river is a natural stream of water, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, or another stream. In some cases a river flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water....
s, lake
Lake

A lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin and moves slowly if it moves at all....
s, sea
SEA

See also: Sea and seasThe three-letter acronym SEA may refer to:People/organizations/businesses*Scientists and Engineers for America, a pro-science political advocacy group....
s, ocean
Ocean

An ocean is a major body of Seawater, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a World Ocean that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas....
s, and canal
Canal

Canals are artificial channels for water. There are two types of canals: Aqueduct canals, which are used for the conveyance and delivery of water, and waterways, which are navigable transportation canals used for passage of goods and people, often connected to existing lakes, rivers, or oceans....
s. In order for a waterway to be navigable, it must meet several criteria:



Vessels using waterways vary from small animal
Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the Kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life....
-drawn barge
Barge

A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Most barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats....
s to immense ocean tanker
Tanker (ship)

A tank ship or tankship, often referred to as a tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in Bulk liquids. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and the liquefied natural gas carrier....
s and ocean liner
Ocean liner

An ocean liner is a passenger ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule....
s, such as cruise ship
Cruise ship

File:MSMajestyOfTheSeasEdit1.JPGA cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience....
s.

ls 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).






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A waterway is any navigable body of water
Body of water

A body of water is any significant accumulation of water, usually covering the Earth or another planet. The term body of water most often refers to large accumulations of water, such as oceans, seas, and lakes, but it may also include smaller pools of water such as ponds, puddles or wetlands....
. These include river
River

A river is a natural stream of water, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, or another stream. In some cases a river flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water....
s, lake
Lake

A lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin and moves slowly if it moves at all....
s, sea
SEA

See also: Sea and seasThe three-letter acronym SEA may refer to:People/organizations/businesses*Scientists and Engineers for America, a pro-science political advocacy group....
s, ocean
Ocean

An ocean is a major body of Seawater, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a World Ocean that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas....
s, and canal
Canal

Canals are artificial channels for water. There are two types of canals: Aqueduct canals, which are used for the conveyance and delivery of water, and waterways, which are navigable transportation canals used for passage of goods and people, often connected to existing lakes, rivers, or oceans....
s. In order for a waterway to be navigable, it must meet several criteria:

  • The waterway must be deep enough to allow the draft
    Draft (hull)

    The draft of a ship's Hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained....
     depth of the vessels
    Ship

    A ship is a large watercraft that floats on water. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size. Ships may be found on lakes, seas, and rivers and they allow for a variety of activities, such as the ferry or cargo ships, fishing, cruise ship, Coast guard, and warship....
     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 waterfall
    Waterfall

    A waterfall is usually a geology geologic formation resulting from water, often in the form of a stream, flowing over an erosion-resistant rock formation that forms a nickpoint, or sudden break in elevation....
    s and rapids, or have a way around them (such as canal locks and boat lift
    Boat lift

    A boat lift, ship lift, or lift lock is a machine for transporting boats between water at two different elevations, and is an alternative to the canal lock and the canal inclined plane....
    s);
  • The current
    Current (fluid)

    File:Water patterns.JPGA current, in a river or stream, is the flow of water influenced by gravity as the water moves downhill to reduce its potential energy....
     of the waterway must be mild enough to allow vessels to make headway.


Vessels using waterways vary from small animal
Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the Kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life....
-drawn barge
Barge

A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Most barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats....
s to immense ocean tanker
Tanker (ship)

A tank ship or tankship, often referred to as a tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in Bulk liquids. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and the liquefied natural gas carrier....
s and ocean liner
Ocean liner

An ocean liner is a passenger ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule....
s, such as cruise ship
Cruise ship

File:MSMajestyOfTheSeasEdit1.JPGA cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience....
s.

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 horse
Horse

The horse is a hoofed mammal, a subspecies of one of seven extant species of the family Equidae. The horse has evolution of the horse over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, odd-toed ungulate animal of today....
s or other draft animals. Today, major canals are built to allow passage of large ocean-going vessels (see Ship canal
Ship canal

A ship canal is a canal especially constructed to carry ocean-going ships, as opposed to barges. Ship canals can be enlarged barge canals, canalised or channel s, or canals especially constructed from the start to accommodate ships....
).

Tidal waterway


A tidal waterway is one open to the sea
SEA

See also: Sea and seasThe three-letter acronym SEA may refer to:People/organizations/businesses*Scientists and Engineers for America, a pro-science political advocacy group....
 and far enough downstream (close enough to the sea) to be subject to twice-daily (or daily, depending on the local tides) reversals of flow and variation in depth. Non-tidal waterways are either far enough upstream to be beyond tidal effects, or are separated from the sea or the tidal stretch of the same waterway by a barrier (usually a navigation lock).

In actuality, every body of any liquid on the face of the Earth is subject to tides—even a bird bath. However, only bodies of water susceptible to tidal changes noticeable to humans are included in the customary definition.

See also

  • List of waterways
    List of waterways

    This page is a list of waterways defined as rivers, canals, estuarys or firths....
  • List of countries by waterways length
    List of countries by waterways length

    This is a list of countries by total waterways length mostly based on The World Factbook accessed in June 2008. Notes...
  • International waterway
  • Pacific Ocean
    Pacific Ocean

    The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
  • Indian Ocean
    Indian Ocean

    The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
  • Arabian Sea
    Arabian Sea

    The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui, the north-east point of Somalia, Socotra, Kanyakumari in India, and the western coast of Sri Lanka....
  • Great Lakes
    Great Lakes

    The St. Lawrence River Great Lakes are a chain of fresh water lakes located in eastern North America, on the Canada ? United States border. Consisting of Lakes Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth....
  • Strait of Magellan
    Strait of Magellan

    The Strait of Magellan comprises a navigable sea route immediately south of mainland Chile and north of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego. The waterway is the most important natural passage between the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, but it is considered a difficult route to navigate because of the inhospitable climate and the narrowness o...
  • Cape of Good Hope
    Cape of Good Hope

    The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headlands and bays on the Atlantic Ocean coast of South Africa. There is a very common misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa and the dividing point between the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Oceans, but in fact the southernmost point is Cape Agulhas, about 150 kilometres t...
  • Panama Canal
    Panama Canal

    The Panama Canal is a man-made canal which joins the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean oceans. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, it had an enormous impact on shipping between the two oceans, replacing the long and treacherous route via the Drake Passage and Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South Am...
  • Suez Canal
    Suez Canal

    The Suez Canal is a canal in Egypt. Opened in November 1869, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigating around Africa or carrying goods overland between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea....
  • Erie Canal
    Erie Canal

    The Erie Canal is a man-made waterway in New York state that runs about 365 miles from Albany on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes....
  • Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway
    Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway

    The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway is a 234-mile artificial waterway that provides a connecting link between the Tennessee River and Tombigbee River rivers....
  • Cape Cod Canal
    Cape Cod Canal

    The Cape Cod Canal is a man-made waterway traversing the narrow neck of land that joins Cape Cod to mainland Massachusetts.Part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, the canal is roughly 17.4 miles long and connects Cape Cod Bay in the north to Buzzards Bay in the south....
  • Saint Lawrence Seaway
    Saint Lawrence Seaway

    The St. Lawrence Seaway is the common name for a system of canals that permits ocean-going vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the North American Great Lakes, as far as Lake Superior....
  • Great Lakes Waterway
    Great Lakes Waterway

    The Great Lakes Waterway is a system of channels and canals that makes all of the Great Lakes accessible to oceangoing vessels. Its principal civil engineering components are the Welland Canal, bypassing Niagara Falls between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, and the Soo Locks, bypassing the rapids of the St....
  • Intracoastal Waterway
    Intracoastal Waterway

    The Intracoastal Waterway is a 4,800-km waterway along the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States. Some lengths consist of natural inlets, salt-water rivers, bays, and sounds; others are man-made canals....
  • Ecocanal
    Ecocanal

    Ecocanal is a proposed low-draft waterway to connect Lake Nicaragua to the Caribbean Sea, using the San Juan River . The proposed project would primarily be used to carry containerized and bulk cargo through the Central American isthmus....
     Waterway


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