Although according to the original plan it should have crossed the Tohoku region from the Abukuma-gawa River through Lake Inawashiro to the Agano-gawa River, he canceled that gigantic-scale canal plan and adopted the construction of a railroad instead, and in the end he realized the plan by giving up shipping passengers and goods in a canal system but limiting its function only to running the water.
当初の構想である東北地方を横貫して阿武隈川から猪苗代湖にいたり阿賀野川に抜ける大運河構想を破棄し鉄道建設に取って代わらせ、疎水方式による通航が出来ない通水のみの機能に絞って実現した。