From the mid-17th century to the mid-19th century, British engineers thrived to improve their waterway network by building canals. Waterways were the easiest, fastest and safest ways to travel quickly, town after town, to the sea. The Caledonian Canal is one of them (Caledonia being the former name of Scotland). Built during the first half of the 19th century, it helped to create the conditions which sparked the Industrial (or one might better say: "industrious") Revolution by facilitating trade. Ironically, it was James Watt, the very engineer who embodied the technological interpretation of the Industrial Revolution, who made a survey of the route to estimate its feasibility. In 1847, 600 ton ships could navigate the 60 miles separating two seas, crossing 4 lakes and 23 miles of artificial waterways.