We didn't ride on a barge like the ones that plied the waters of the Erie Canal years ago, but we were on a small canal boat.
The Canal is still open for its full length, but today it is mostly used by pleasure boaters. It has been widened and dug deeper and more modern locks have been installed.
There are still some of the old buildings along the way built with the local fieldstone.
I saw a few ducks, birds, and squirrels along the bank. Around one corner we came upon a flock of Canada Geese. I wonder if these geese migrated south from Alaska and were at Creamer's Field a few short weeks ago. Too bad they don't wear some kind of identifying tag.
We went through the locks that are located in Lockport, New York. Originally there were five locks that raised or lowered the water 50 feet. Now there are two locks that raise the water 25 feet each, bringing it to the level of Lake Erie. Below is one of the lock gates closed and beginning to fill with water.
As we waited the water filled the lock until it was the same height as the uphill water.
When it is full, the lock gates are opened and the boat sails out at the higher level.
The Erie Canal connects Lake Erie to the Atlantic Ocean at the Hudson River, a distance of 363 miles. Construction began in 1817 and was completed in 1825. The waterway measured 40 feet wide and four feet deep and had 83 locks to raise and lower the boats a total of 682 feet from one end to the other. Built by mostly immigrant labor, it was one of the greatest engineering feats in American history, despite the fact that it was constructed without the aid of a single professional engineer.
When they reached Lockport they ran into the Niagara Escarpment, the same rock formation responsible for Niagara Falls. There was a five mile stretch of solid limestone and dolomite that ran 30 feet into the earth. They drilled using star bits and sledgehammers, and used leftover black powder from the war of 1812. Rock blasting was a new science at the time, and was a very dangerous operation.
The Lockport locks were called the Flight of Five, and each lock raised the water 10 feet. There were two sets of locks, one for up bound travel and one for down bound travel. The locks we went through have been enlarged, and you can see that set of locks to the right in the photo above. To the left are the original up bound locks with the gates removed. Now the water flows over each lock in a series of waterfalls.
The Erie Canal opened the west to trade and travel and transformed the way the U.S. developed. It is definitely an engineering marvel and played an important part in the history of the U.S.Tomorrow we are on the road again, but I will come back and post more photos from Niagara Falls.
