Editing Timber slide

{{about|a method to move timber around a waterfall|a logging method to move timber with water|Log flume}}
[[Image:Timber slide 1901.jpg|thumb|230px|right|Timber slide in Ottawa, with the Duke of York on timber raft, Sept. 1901.]]

A '''timber slide''' is a device for moving [[timber]] past [[rapids]] and [[waterfall]]s.  Their use in [[Canada]] was widespread in the 18th and 19th century [[timber trade]].  At this time, cut timber would be floated down [[river]]s in large [[timber raft]]s from logging camps to ports such as [[Montreal]] and [[Saint John, New Brunswick]].  Rapids and waterfalls would, however, damage the wood and could potentially cause log jams.  Thus at these locations timber slides were constructed.  These were thin water filled [[chute (gravity)|chutes]] that would run [[Parallel (geometry)|parallel]] to the river.  They would usually only be wide enough for a single log and one at a time the logs would be directed down it.  The idea is attributed to [[Ruggles Wright]] who introduced the first one in 1829 not far from what is today down-town [[Hull, Quebec]], Canada.<ref>[http://www.timberplus.co.uk/timber-slides/ History of Timber Slides]</ref> Later, the slides could often be up to a kilometre in length. They were most commonly found on the [[Ottawa River]] system. The [[Bonnechere River]] in [[Eastern Ontario]] had five chutes along the waterway before emptying into the Ottawa River.

In some areas the timber slide became a tourist attraction, the most notable being the 1.2&nbsp;km chute bypassing the [[Chaudière Falls]] on the Ottawa River in [[Ottawa]]. Its most notable visitors are the [[Duke of York]], who later became King [[George V]], and his wife, the [[Duchess of York]] [[Mary of Teck]].<ref>Elizabeth Cavaliere "Sliding down the Timber Chute: The 1901 Royal Tour of Canada" NiCHE Blog http://niche-canada.org/2016/08/15/sliding-down-the-timber-chute-the-1901-royal-tour-of-canada/</ref>

Timber slides disappeared after the construction of canal networks and the decline of the timber trade. They were almost all out of service by the [[World War I|First World War]].

==See also==
* [[Log flume]]
* [[Ottawa River timber trade]]
* {{ill|Tømmerrenna|nb|Tømmerrenne|vertical-align=sup}} is the term for a timber slide in Norway, where they were also common.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

* Lee, David. "Lumber Kings and Shantymen: Logging, Lumber and Timber in the Ottawa Valley." Ottawa: Canada, 2006.

[[Category:Wood]]
[[Category:Water transport]]
[[Category:Log transport]]
[[Category:Forestry in Canada]]
[[Category:History of forestry]]