"Are Your Alien Canals Carved Rock Or Dressed Stone Blocks?" Topic

After seeing this and similar other pictures, I've come to the conclusion that in my neck of the woods (US) we are overly generous with the word ‘canal'. Back in New Orleans we called all wide ditches with water canals. This nice stone one, however, is in Sommerset (UK):

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QUESTION
So, are your Alien world canals just carved rock, packed down soil or do you detail dressed stone to line the inside?

Dan
PS. The sides on this "sewer" system is what I would think most ancient canals would look like on Mars and elsewhere:
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the canal is the water bit…the rest is called a cutting

the canal has been cut through a hill side and the cutting walls are dressed with stone and brick to prevent cave ins

like you guys in the US a canal in the UK is a straightened watercourse – it does not have to be bricked lined

In some parts of the US it is called a river.

DyeHard

LOL. I guess that could be because it was originally a natural river or stream/creek, before they tried to "domesticate" a part of it (usually "canalizing" just the part that crosses through an urban area). :)

A completely new and artificial water course (for irrigation, diverting flood waters to a reservoir, or to connect two existing bodies of water for transport of cargo) is what I think of when I hear the word "canal" but, like I said, we haven't exactly been very consistent with our use of the word over here.

Dan
PS. So, is "cutting" the general term for what I'm referring to, meaning the inner sides of the beast, regardless if it's lined (with stone or concrete) or not? And is "berm" the term for the flat area inside the canal, where people can walk or drive?

Dan,

To answer your question, my Martian canals(if I had any) would be dressed blocks as befits an ancient civilization.

Dave

Dressed blocks are on my Martian agenda, too--long since dried and mostly filled with sand and dust, you understand.

Yes, returning to the Martian Canals, as water is to precious to let drain into the local terrain, the cuts would be lined. Although centuries of neglect would result in many blockages and breaches.

All that engineering hurts my head.

Robert: "… long since dried and mostly filled with sand and dust, you understand."

You should include a derelict or two. Martian/Alien designs, of course.

Dan
PS. Stone-lined canals completely devoid of water would make mighty fine roads too:

Here are some different inhabitants for your Mars:

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I'm not exactly sure what these are, or if this is a one-of strip or part of a comic book:

For those doing a Victorian Mars this might be of possible interest to you:

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erbzine.com/mag33/3387.html
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Here's a comparison of early Victorian era observations of Mars, and which surface areas they were really representing:

Dan
PS. Anyone know who the artist was who painted this?
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Mark Salwowski is the cover artist per this

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Haywire

Thanks a million!

Dan

I'd assume that the Martian canals are relatively narrow and very deep, to minimize evaporation. At the greatest extreme, they'd be covered, more sewer tunnels than canals. Worked stone or concrete would reduce the amount of water leaking through the sides and bottom of the canal.

If you're not using canals for transport, they might only be a couple feet wide but 50+ feet deep.

We have quite a few canals where I live, they're trapezoidal in shape, about 30 feet deep and ~60-75 feet wide. At least in the upper ends. They get smaller as water gets pulled out of them.

As for size, the original Panama Canal locks are 110feet wide and 42feet deep. The expanded locks are 180ft wide and 60ft deep. The Rhine-Main-Danube canal is 102ft wide (at the bottom, 180ft wide across the banks) but is only 13feet deep. The Suez Canal is ~700ft wide and ~80ft deep. I'd expect much deeper canals on Mars.

Well until we actually land on Mars and talk to a Martian … we will just have to "swag" it ! Forget where I found this, but this is my favorite "Martian Canals" design …