<P> The Industrial Revolution improved Britain's transport infrastructure with a turnpike road network, a canal and waterway network, and a railway network . Raw materials and finished products could be moved more quickly and cheaply than before . Improved transportation also allowed new ideas to spread quickly . </P> <P> Canals were the first technology to allow bulk materials to be economically transported long distances inland . This was because a horse could pull a barge with a load dozens of times larger than the load that could be drawn in a cart . </P> <P> Building of canals dates to ancient times . The Grand Canal in China, "the world's largest artificial waterway and oldest canal still in existence," parts of which were started between the 6th and 4th centuries BC, is 1,121 miles (1,804 km) long and links Hangzhou with Beijing . </P> <P> In the UK, canals began to be built in the late 18th century to link the major manufacturing centres across the country . Known for its huge commercial success, the Bridgewater Canal in North West England, which opened in 1761 and was mostly funded by The 3rd Duke of Bridgewater . From Worsley to the rapidly growing town of Manchester its construction cost £ 168,000 (£ 22,589,130 as of 2013), but its advantages over land and river transport meant that within a year of its opening in 1761, the price of coal in Manchester fell by about half . This success helped inspire a period of intense canal building, known as Canal Mania . New canals were hastily built in the aim of replicating the commercial success of the Bridgewater Canal, the most notable being the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the Thames and Severn Canal which opened in 1774 and 1789 respectively . </P>

The process of industrialization is called a revolution