I grew up in northern NJ and we had several canals in the state. Of note, the Morris Canal, which originally ran from Phillipsburg, on the Delaware River, to Newark Bay, 102 miles long, was built to bring coal from Pennsylvania to NY City and was in operation from 1821 to 1924. You can read about it here. The canal had 23 locks and 23 inclined planes. The inclined planes were used to accomidate greater elevation changes, 35 to 100 feet. All but 1 inclined plane used water power, the force or the water falling from the higher to the lower level, to power the plane. The 1 inclined plane was located in Newark, NJ, and was powered by electricity, as a demonstration of how electricity could be used. Most of the eastern end of the canal is gone, but the western end from Waterloo Village to Phillipsburg is mostly intact.