flights of locks may be replaced by inclines .... Inclines consist of rails carrying a trolley with the boat in the dry, or a tank with the boat afloat, from one level to the next
a flat surface fostering the sliding of parts and materials
In the 18th century, inclined planes were constructed to transport small boats on trucks between adjacent pounds, using animal power and gravity and, later, steam. A series of planes was built in the U.S. on the canal between the Delaware and Hudson rivers to transport 80-ton vessels in caissons; a similar plane for 60-ton vessels was built at Foxton, England, to bypass ten locks.
