Transportation

The Growth of the Industrial Revolution depended on the transportation of goods and materials, which led to a revolution in transportation in addition to the industrial revolution.

Roads

Britain had poor roads. Most usable roads extended only a short distance beyond a town. Most people didn’t even try to travel by drawn carriage because they were that bad and they resorted to walking 

            Turnpikes were set up and charged people to go on them and they were better maintained and did not need repairs a lot, but when they did the money from those who paid to use the road was used and by the end of the 18^th century turnpike trusts were being used everywhere.

”Two Scottish engineers, John Loudon McAdam and Thomas Telford, made important advances in road construction during the early 1800's. McAdam originated the macadam type of road surface, which consists of crushed rock packed into thin layers. Telford started a type of road using large flat stones for road foundations. These new methods of road building made travel by land faster and smoother. Because of better roads, manufactured goods could be delivered faster. The orders and money involved in business and industry also moved faster and more simply.” (Wikipedia)

Canals

            Europe had many harbors and rivers which many materials were transported. Engineers deepened and widened many streams and rivers and built canals between cities so that transportation was easier. Then Robert Fulton built the first steam powered boat which made it possible to go upstream and downstream faster. Later on steam boats were designed to travel on the ocean with large loads but most of the load was coal for the engine.

Railroad

            At the beginning of the industrial revolution railroads were only in mines and industries and carts or cars were pulled by horses and were pulled on iron rails. Later on stationary engines were used to pull carts and cars by cables. The locomotive was designed later on by George Stephenson in 1814. He designed the rocket which could pull 13 tons at 12 miles per hour  In Scotland the first railway called the Troon railway in 1808. Rail ways began to spread but there was one problem. The rail gauge or distance between the rails was not the same for different railways, So the standard rail gauge of 4ft 81/2 inches was adopted and was used in 60% of the worlds railways. The steam locomotive wasn’t used for transportation of goods, people until the 1830’s.

References

            Wikipedia encyclopedia

            Modern World History book by Elisabeth Gaynor Ellis, Anthony Esler