Grand Canals-are they worth it?

Ref the canal system built by the Doge to link Genoa to Lombardy and the river Po in G7 this was not to link Genoa with Venice and save a trip round Italy.

The intent was to link the port and merchant fleet of Genoa with Lombardy, The Po Valley and esp the Duchy of Milan. Basically the old "Spanish Road" routes used for trade purposes.

Seems a fairly common ambition of Doges of Genoa and Dukes of Savoy to dominate their economic hinter land and divert trade towards their ports and away from Venice etc. In some games this means a attempted military and political take over, but in G7 canals were used as a safer option than trying to take control of the Queen of Spain's home city.

The fact that Genoa is still ahead of France, Austria, Ottoman Anatolia and Venice on the Levant trade list would seem to indicate that Genoa got some credit for efforts.

My view on these kinds of projects is that if you have to ask the cost, then it is not worth it. You do these projects because they are strategic, or because you have lots of spare resources and just want to do them.

I'm looking at a panama canal in game 8, and we'll see what I think when I get the final engineering report. I have developed hydraulic lime, so it should make some of the canal work in the tough terrain more feasible. But I have lots of resources in game 8, so it would be more of a lark to do it than serious need. I've done several others to improve navigability of some of my water ways. No evidence that it was worth the effort, but then I haven't really asked about it. I consider them 'ego projects'.

I think the only one I can imagine would be quickly profitable would be the suez canal. But, it would be a leap of faith because I don't see any way you could really assess its potential profitability. Cost overruns would be probable, so you couldn't know the final cost, and how could you really know how much usage tax you could extract?

A good point Deacon and I would agree, they are something to do when you have the resources to throw at the project, for the project's sake and for the ego  

Would be interesting to see how it goes in G8 if you do have a go at a Panama Canal.  In the future, if I can develop the Hanseatic League in the way I want, I could be tempted to try for a restored Stecknitz Canal on a similar basis but that would be a few years away yet.

On the Suez Canal I wonder if a resurgent Ottoman Empire might see it more as a strategic military venture?  Allowing them to send fleets easily between the Med and the Red Sea?  Ok, it might be cheaper, easier and quicker to build up two fleets...