Imperial Designs


It looked like we might have nothing to review today and then we came across the Imperial Canal.  It has a lot of reviews - 117 to be exact.




Victor wrote of it ‘There are people who are surprised to know that the Imperial Canal running from Fontellas (Navarra) to El burgo de Ebro (Zaragoza) is one of the most important engineering works in Europe of those carried out in the 18th century. The floodgate house, despite being a modern reconstruction due to how damaged the original was in a flood at the end of the 19th century, is an example (one of the additions is the neo-Mudejar tower). It is next to the eleven-mouth dam built by the Dutch Krayenhof that begins the canal itself, marking its kilometer zero.’





The Imperial Canal of Aragon (Canal Imperial de Aragón) is a 110-kilometre  navigation canal built from 1776 to 1790 between Fontellas (Navarre) and Fuentes de Ebro (Aragón). Its construction was intended to improve the irrigation of the old Acequia Imperial de Aragón, bringing water from the Ebro River to Zaragoza and allowing the irrigation system to be extended in the region. It also established a passenger and freight transport service between Tudela and Zaragoza












In 1528, Charles I , King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor , commissioned the construction of a dam one league from Tudela to divert water from the Ebro and feed the planned Imperial Canal of Aragon. The so-called Palace of Charles V was also built under the direction of the architect Gil Morlanes . The works carried out allowed the irrigation of Navarrese lands in Ribaforada , Buñuel and Cortes ; contrary to expectations, the Jalón River was not reached , so that the water only reached the Zaragoza municipalities of Mallén and Gallur in a weak and occasional manner. In the mid- 18th century  , the deterioration of the canal, due to flooding of the Ebro, meant that many of these Irrigated areas had to return to dry farming.







The Imperial Canal of Aragon was a first-class hydraulic work in its time. The Emperor Charles I promoted its creation and Juan Cabrero, archdeacon of Zaragoza, gave 2000 ducats to begin its construction, from Gallur, in May 1528. In 1771 the Council of Castile , chaired by the Count of Aranda , created the position of protector with powers to make all kinds of reforms necessary for the achievement of the enterprise, appointing his brother-in-law Ramón Pignatelli to occupy it . From 1776 the works were resumed with a new rhythm and a new construction plan was approved. 2 It had three objectives: supply of irrigation, source of energy and communication route.








He physically built the channel and the civil works (1776-1790), overcoming obstacles of all kinds such as the El Bocal weir , the great Jalón aqueduct , the channel to Zaragoza , a multitude of bridges and beacons, the Casablanca locks and mill , the Ojo del Canal , the Barranco de la Muerte aqueduct , the Valdegurriana locks and another set of locks for downstream navigation. He also built the institution's premises in Zaragoza, in the house known as Casa del Canal .
















Tomorrow we cross the river, honest.



















 

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