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New Book Engineered Landscapes Engineered Landscapes: The Rideau Canal's Transformation of a Wilderness Waterway is a new book about the Rideau Canal that answers such questions as; what did the Rideau Route look like prior to the building of the locks and dams in 1826-1831? what did the early surveyors see? and how much flooding did the building of the Rideau Canal cause? Primarily a research document, the first section of the book contains a reconstruction of the pre-canal geography and includes maps and transcriptions of the first three full route surveys, those of Lt. Gershom French in 1783, Lt. Joshua Jebb in 1816, and Samuel Clowes in 1823 and 1824. The accounts of these surveys have not been previously transcribed and are presented in this book for the first time. The book then looks at the details of the building of the dams and locks, the channel engineering, and the exact levels of flooding brought about by the building of the Rideau Canal. While only 10% of the canal consists of man-made features such as locks and canal cuts, virtually every section of the Rideau has been subject to some degree of flooding. The book concludes with some information about present day field investigations that are mapping the drowned pre-canal landscape in detail. "Engineered Landscapes: The Rideau Canal's Transformation of a Wilderness Waterway," 290 pages; 8.5” x 11”; paperback; colour cover; b & w interior; 150+ b & w illustrations, maps, period paintings & photos; 9 - 11" x 17" fold out maps (7 b & w, 2 colour); 2 - 8.5" x 11" colour maps; includes bibliographic references; first printing 2006; ISBN 0-9780751-0-2; $55.00 BEFORE YOU BUY - This book is intended for Rideau keeners, those with a scientific and/or historical interest in the Rideau Canal. It's essentially a research document and can be a bit of a heavy read. Ken has re-written Part 1 of Engineered Landscapes for a general audience and released it in 2007 as "The Rideau Route: Exploring the Pre-Canal Waterway". It's half the size (and less than half the price) of Engineered Landscapes. It includes the description of the pre-canal waterway as well as the full transcriptions of French's 1783 survey, Jebb's 1816 survey and Clowes 1823 & 1824 surveys. Although it mentions some of the flooding depths, it does not include the flooding depth determinations (Part 2 of Engineered Landscapes). See The Rideau Route Page. So, if you want all the nitty gritty details, then this book is for you. But if you just want a look at the pre-canal geography and surveys, then The Rideau Route might be more appropriate. For more information about Engineered Landscapes you can read a Synopsis of Engineered Landscapes on Ken's website (please bookmark the Friends of the Rideau website before you leave). This book is currently available for purchase through the Friends of the Rideau. UPDATE - we have stock available, the book was re-printed in February 2008 For purchase information, have a look at the Nautical Notions' Order Page. General: Home | About Us | Membership | Newsletters | Our Awards | The Depot Sales Section: Sales Menu Page | Maps | Books | Clothing | Other | Order Page Rideau: What's A Rideau | Rideau Corridor | Map | Communities | History | World Heritage | Fishing | Photo Gallery Information: Tourist Info | Brochures/Guides | How A Lock Works | Stop Wash | Loon Aware | Info Links | Web Links ©1997-2008 Rideau Waterway Co-ordinating Association (Friends of the Rideau) Comments about the website email: webmaster@rideaufriends.com Website design & maintenance donated by: Ken W. Watson