Editing Aire and Calder Navigation (section)

{{Short description|Canal in West Yorkshire, England}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox canal
  |name        = Aire and Calder Navigation
  |image       = Large commercial barge.jpg
  |image_caption     = One of the 600 tonne barges used on the Navigation
  |mapframe           = yes
  |mapframe-zoom      = 9
  |former_names      =
  |original_owner     = Aire and Calder Navigation Company
  |engineer    = John Hadley
  |other_engineer  =
  |date_act    = 1699
  |date_use    = 1704
  |date_completed   =
  |date_closed =
  |date_restored   =
  |length_mi      = 34
  |len_ft         = 200
  |len_in      = 0
  |original_boat_length_ft       = 58
  |original_boat_length_in    = 0
  |len_note    =
  |beam_ft        = 20
  |beam_in     = 0
  |original_beam_ft      = 14
  |original_beam_in   = 6
  |beam_note   =
  |start_point       = Leeds (Aire) and Wakefield (Calder)
  |original_start     =
  |start_note  =
  |end_point         = Goole Docks
  |original_end       =
  |end_note    =
  |branch      =
  |branch_of   =
  |connects_to        =
  |locks       = 16
  |original_num_locks     =
  |lock_note   =
  |elev_ft        =
  |elev_note   =
  |status      = Open
  |navigation_authority         = [[Canal and River Trust]]
  | module               = 
}}

The '''Aire and Calder Navigation''' is the [[River engineering#Canalization of rivers|canalised]] section of the [[River Aire|Rivers Aire]] and [[River Calder, West Yorkshire|Calder]] in [[West Yorkshire]], England. The first improvements to the rivers above [[Knottingley]] were completed in 1704 when the Aire was made navigable to Leeds and the Calder to Wakefield, by the construction of 16 locks. Lock sizes were increased several times, as was the depth of water, to enable larger boats to use the system. The Aire below Haddlesey was bypassed by the opening of the [[Selby Canal]] in 1778. A canal from Knottingley to the new [[Port of Goole|docks]] and new town at Goole provided a much shorter route to the [[River Ouse, Yorkshire|River Ouse]]  from 1826. The [[New Junction Canal]] was constructed in 1905, to link the system to the [[River Don Navigation]], by then part of the [[Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation]].

Steam tugs were introduced in 1831. In the 1860s, compartment boats were introduced, later called [[Tom Pudding]]s, from which coal was unloaded into ships by large hydraulic hoists. This system enabled the canal to carry at its peak more than 1.5 million tons of coal per year, and was not abandoned until 1986. To handle trains of compartments, many of the locks were lengthened to {{convert|450|ft|m}}.

Although much of the upper reaches are now designated as leisure routes, there is still significant commercial traffic on the navigation. 300,000 tons were carried in 2007, although most of the traffic is now petroleum and gravel, rather than the coal which kept the navigation profitable for 150 years.