Engineering

The bridge you see in the picture above is like many others that crossed the Erie Canal during the latter half of the nineteenth century, but this particular bridge was

  Straight roads aren’t uncommon of course, but not many have histories that go back as far as these two that cross the Erie Canal in Western New York State.

This picture of the so-called “enlarged” Erie (ca 1862-1914) at Medina was taken between 1903 and 1914. The two yellow arrows are pointing to a falls in the Oak Orchard

When he learned that the canal was to cross Western New York far to the north, Joseph Ellicott sent his best surveyor to find a route that was more to

The picture above includes the top of one of Lockport’s modern lock gates. The railroad bridge you see crossing the canal in the distance doesn’t look like most other bridges.

The Erie wasn’t the only attempt to build a canal westward.  Even George Washington, who was a surveyor in his youth, became actively involved in a project trying to canalize

Weighlocks like this one at Rochester were the toll boothes of the early Erie. Tolls were eliminated on the canal altogether in 1882 in response to growing competition from the

This Swing Bridge at Albion, NY is just one of many that had to be replaced for the 1905-1918 NYS Barge Canal enlargement. The masonry buildings you see on the

  When the canal was enlarged for the last time in 1905-1918, individual homeowners who had their own bridges before were given the choice of either having a new bridge

Early surveyors used transits like this one to lay out the course of the original Erie Canal across New York State.  Though cutting-edge for their day, these instruments were primitive

ca 1825 – This colorized version of a famous woodcut shows the approach to the original Erie Canal locks at Lockport from the east. The people standing on the roof

Muskrats were notorious for digging their homes into the banks of the Original Erie Canal, but the banks of the modern Barge Canal are so large that animal activity isn’t

The Great Embankment is found just a few miles east of Rochester at Pittsford, NY. In the earliest days of the Erie Canal, the embankment thrilled both onlookers and passengers

The New York State Canal Corporation crew is here to open the canal for another season.   The invention of direct current electricity made it practical with guard gates like

The modest flow of the Mohawk River at Rome could keep up with the locks of the Original Erie (top left), and of the Improved Erie (bottom left), but for

Unlike the other eastern rivers, which started at the TOP of the Appalachian Mountain Chain, only the Mohawk in New York State started on the WEST SIDE of the Ridge,

  Where does the Erie’s water come from? There are dozens of feeder streams along the way, but one of those stands out as the key to the erie’s success

A channel dug by hand in solid rock for SEVEN MILES! Why didn’t they just go over the rock? Because water can’t flow uphill. They would have needed a reliable

  Before engines, posts like these were about the only brakes available. Drivers would loop a rope around a post several times and gradually slow the boats to a stop

Thisey The Holland Land Company consisted of a group of Dutch investors.  They bought the 3.3 million acres of land from Robert Morris shortly after the American Revolution.  Morris was

Steel was in tight supply because of the war when the Barge Canal was finished in 1918. Alternative materials were sought to create a fleet for use in the war