Cable ferry

These were largely replaced by wire cable by the late 19th century. Cable ferries use relatively little energy, but can hinder other craft. Cable ferries have probably been used to cross rivers and similar bodies of water since before recorded history. Examples of ferry routes using this technology date back to the 13th century (Hampton Ferry in England). In 1831 James Meadows Rendel introduced chain ferries worked by steam and in 1832 constructed one crossing the Dart at Dartmouth. Between 1832 and 1836 similar chain ferries were implemented between Torpoint and Saltash across the Tamar, and between Woolston and Southampton across the Itchen. The Woolston Floating Bridge switched from chains to wire ropes between 1878 and 1887 and was replaced by a bridge in 1977. In the early 1900s, Canadian engineer William Pitt designed an underwater cable ferry in New Brunswick, which would later be installed on the Kennebecasis River in order to connect the Kingston Peninsula to the Kennebecasis Valley.