-constructed as per otl starting in 1811 following first appropriation in 1806, road reaches from cumberland, maryland to wheeling by 1814 w/o war

-further roads to baltimore and washington

-zane's trace from wheeling to maysville kentucky integrated after revamping, and by 1824 further construction into ohio

-following luisiana war, extension of cumberland road planned to lowndes, missouri

-road from st louis missouri to vandalia, illinois completed by 1833

-by 1836, path between vandalia and ohio roads completed

-path from st louis to lowndes not done, though, for a while due to quasi war and tariff reductions

-ultimately road further extended to lowndes under webster, completing in 1847

-wheeling bridge constructed in 1840-1845 with federal funding, suspension bridge with removable middle part for steamboats (rarely used)

-road from washington to new orleans, planned by sanford and clay and submitted to congress in 1828 to unify nation

-road from new orleans to elyton constructed by 1831

-road from washington to roanoke constructed by 1831 too

-road from roanoke to knoxville completed by 1835, subject to many delays

-path from elyton to knoxville opened up by indian removal, work done on it abruptly ends in 1839 due to second quasi war, tariff reductions

-under webster, path from elyton to ross's landing completed in 1847, and then to knoxville in 1849

-with no war of 1812 dewitt clinton is able to get more headway in establishing it earlier

-as vp he's able to secure more congressional funding for it

-opens in 1822 to mass applause and increases clinton's credibility massively

-also produces massive boom for new york, makes it leading city of eastern seaboard and us as new york becomes window to great lakes region

-long talked about, canal from ohio river to erie river

-as vp dewitt clinton secures congressional funding, also madison's reluctant support for canal, work underway in 1815

-endpoint set (through much bidding) to sandusky

-much irish labor used to construct canal, changes demographics of ohio a great deal

-opened in 1823, grand success

-canal connecting toledo to ohio river

-funding secured along with ohio and erie canal

-opened in 1821, grand success

-with erie canal due to open on schedule, philadelphians seek to compete with it

-plan for system of canals in 1819, including:

-existing part of union canal route

-eastern division canal from columbia to mouth of juniata river

-juniata division canal from mouth of juniata to hollidaysburg

-two canal tunnels across mountains through alleghenies (curved path to keep too large dark tunnel), from hollidaysburg to johnstown

-along with the use of inclined planes in some open sections, as well as some aqueducts

-western division canal from johnstown to pittsburg

-also some impressive aqueducts to ensure canals full of water

-completion only partially interrupted by war, as pennsylvania only somewhat under threat and most construction at this point inland

-tunnels tough

-some guy gets the idea to use compressed air, invents it in 1824

-connects it to percussion drill (OTL jackhammer), which is a miracle worker

-with desire of sanford and clintonians to get votes, sanford flushly funds canal and tunnel, completed, opens in 1828

-all of this makes pittsburg to philadelphia trip much quicker, from 23 days to 3 1/2 days

-helps to accentuate growth of pennsylvania and all, esp philly

-but not as big success as erie canal due to more limited capacity

-john stevens got charter in 1815 for constructing horse powered railroad, runs experiments afterwards

-later on, in 1828, opens up locomotive imported from british isles for trials

-in 1831, secures railroad from delaware to raritan rivers to connect philly and ny, despite canal in area being constructed

-beats canal in being completed, immediately becomes grand success proving technology

-first telegraph line lain downline

-with no war of 1812, able to get enough money to begin in 1813, completed in 1821 (fully to susquehanna)

-including the union canal tunnel, a 222 m tunnel, completed in 1817

-constructed larger than otl, and so can take along larger boats, so unlike otl not obsolesced later on

-becomes part of Pennsylvania Canal system

-following erie canal, petition for new canal for georgetown dc, comes through with surveying in 1821

-then begun in 1827 postwar

-terminus at rock creek in dc

-lowly funded but some progress made following election of clay

-goes much better than otl due to more funding, also because there are not the severe disputes that wracked the project

-no baltimore and ohio railroad to dispute with

-mostly irish workers so no ethnic disputes

-reaches harpers ferry in 1832

-reaches hancock by 1834

-reaches cumberland in 1839

-paw paw tunnel constructed in two years (on schedule), due to experienced pennsylvanian laborers coming in

-finally a few tunnels connect it to Youghiogheny river in 1846 (and from there to pittsburgh)

-further canals connect alexandria to union canal

-in 1848, railroad is begun from cumberland to pittsburgh, and in 1850s, from dc to cumberland, makes union canal partially obsolete

-in turn, baltimore gets railway to dc, results in it getting increased traffic but also it turning decisively into suburb of dc

-long time baltimore seeks to create route to west

-all the talk yields nothing for some time, due to disputes with pennsylvania

-sets plan to cut way to Monongahela river in 1837

-badly delayed by labor disputes due to conflicts b/w irish and german laborers

-panic of 1842 results in money running out, work begins again in 1846

-finally reaches cumberland in 1849, by which time it has been decisively beaten by union canal

-turns baltimore into competitor along pennsylvania's mainline canal, despite some reluctance from virginia and pennsylvania's govts

-but nevertheless baltimore made to play second fiddle to pennsylvania by it, until railroad construction in 1840s and wartime use

-virginia seeks to compete by connecting james and kanawha rivers and thus richmond and the interior

-built up in 1810s and 1820s by state govt, with state funding under sanford and clay presidencies

-first grand division from richmond to lynchsburg

-second grand division to covington, railroad to kanawha, and canal for navigability

-turnpikes substituted by portage railroads across appalachian mountains

-ultimately opens in 1836

-not as successful as dreamed

-but does connect richmond with interior of virginia as well as parts of midwest well

-richmond blooms thanks to it though

-railroad destroyed during civil war, following revolt of new virginia

-during war, canal mostly destroyed, replaced afterwards by railroad fulfiling same purpose

-canal from ocoee to conasauga rivers

-constructed in 1828-30

-congress forces cherokee to give up this land to this end

-results in some material prosperity for east tennessee as goods can be shipped through it from mississippi river to mobile

-but nevertheless tennessee legislature neglects east tennessee

-Ref

-gets constructed by associated state governments unlike in otl

-clay eager to conciliate south carolina to union, nudges kentucky and ohio to agree, also provides some funding

-though in south carolina's case says loudly it can spend it on anything it desires

-in 1834 it's begun

-line from cincinnati to louisville to columbia gets done by 1837, also line from branchville to charleston

-panic of 1842 slows down rest of the work, though continues

-two lines connected to one another finally by 1845

-helps to boom charleston's economy a great deal

-for construction slave labor used in kentucky and sc, irish labor in ohio

-Ref

-Ref

-so Atlanta gets made around canal instead of railroad

-constructed in 1820s, during canal boom after erie canal success

-largely used slave labor in construction

-main canal connecting tennessee to chattahoochee fully constructed in 1831

-other feeder canals constructed in the years later

-peachtree georgia (otl atlanta) gets founded due to canal boom, grows to be gigantic metropolis due to later railroads going through it

-less water issues due to canal

-due to Chicago and the Illinois being in two separate states, it takes longer for the canal to get built, states bicker a lot

-slave state Illinois doesn't want too much free stater influence and so drags its feet

-following the 1844 election and subsequent increase in tariff, federal government steps in and constructs it, starting in 1848 after surveying

-requires making some very deep cuts in chicago river to reverse its flow

-construction mired in controversy over labor used to construct it, illinois not wanting irish labor

-eventually results in a preference for german laborers, and irish laborers being forced out of illinois after completion

-after some gruelling construction, gets completed in 1857

-but by then, it's too late for chicago to become a railway hub and st. louis's position as the us's second city is secure

-with cincinnati being the midwest's other great railway hub