Canal lock

A canal lock is a gated chamber that raises or lowers boats between adjoining stretches of water at different levels by changing the chamber’s water level.

Lock chamber: The enclosed section of a lock in which boats are raised or lowered as its water level changes. Its changing water level carries boats between the lock’s lower and upper gates.
Hydrostatic pressure: Pressure exerted by a fluid at rest, increasing with depth. Water pressure presses lock gates closed when levels differ across them.
Panama Canal: An artificial waterway across Panama connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through a system of locks. Its lock chambers lift and lower ships across the continental divide.
Pound lock: A lock with a chamber between gates that controls passage between water levels. Its development made repeated, controlled level changes possible on canals.
Inclined plane (canal): A canal structure that moves boats between levels along a sloping track, often in a cradle or water-filled caisson. It replaces a series of lock chambers with a mechanically operated slope.
Lock gate: A movable barrier that seals a lock chamber from adjoining water. Opening and closing the gates isolates the chamber so its water level can change.
Water level: The height of a water surface relative to a reference point. A lock works by bringing its chamber’s water surface to the adjoining level.
Suez Canal: An artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Unlike a lock canal, it crosses low terrain without changing ships’ water levels.
Grand Canal (China): A historic Chinese waterway system linking northern and southern regions through rivers, lakes, and canals. Its early navigation works are associated with the historical development of pound locks.
Boat lift: A device that carries boats between water levels using a cradle, platform, or water-filled container. It raises boats mechanically instead of changing a lock chamber’s water level.

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