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80-524: The Bruce Tunnel is on the summit pound of the Kennet and Avon Canal between Wootton Top Lock and Crofton Locks in Wiltshire , England. The tunnel is 502 yards (459 m) long. It is named after Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury (1729–1814), the local landowner, who, when the canal was being built, would not allow a deep cutting through his land, and insisted on a tunnel instead. At

160-575: A cause of problems over many years. Pennsylvania's Union Canal suffered likewise on its summit level for lack of water. To rectify that, engineers had to put three large dams across Swartara creek, a mile long dam over Cattail Creek, and the water then passed to a powerhouse where the water was pumped (using water wheels and additional steam pumps if needed) 95 feet up, whereupon it flowed 4 miles through an aqueduct. The Morris Canal in New Jersey used Lake Hopatcong to feed its summit pound through

240-597: A dam was not built, often water had to be pumped. The Chesapeake and Ohio put a steam pump near the South Branch, near mile 174, which had a capacity of about 25 cu ft/s (0.71 m /s), since the water from Dam No. 8 was insufficient. This problem is particularly acute on summit pounds (see below). On the Delaware Division canal, the Delaware River was made to pump its own water into

320-442: A day, vegetables, and a "reasonable allowance of whiskey", $ 8 to $ 12 per month, $ 20 for masons. Still, many were dissatisfied with the slave-like conditions. Friction between the largest groups, from Ireland and Germany, meant they had to be kept in different crews. The width of the canal prism above Harpers Ferry was reduced to 50 feet (15 m), which saved money and was also appropriate from an engineering standpoint. In 1832,

400-507: A distance of about 8 miles (13 km). Making a channel that would not leak water is not easily done. Gravel soil or light soil will leak for a few years until it settles and hardens. Puddle or clay would be used to line the channel, but that was not foolproof. The Union Canal and the Schuylkill canal where the canal prism (the shape of the canal as seen in cross section ) was blasted through limestone leaked so badly, they had to line

480-534: A falling down of the bottom of the Canal into limestone caverns that are lower than, and extend out under the bed of the river: — in consequence of which the water from the Canal is at first conducted down below the canal bottom perhaps twenty or thirty feet and thence out along under the bed of the river ... It has been a matter of surprise to me that our Canal thus far has suffered so little from limesinks. We may yet however have much trouble from this source near and above

560-438: A feeder canal. The lake was large enough, that traffic could enter the lake from the canal. Lock 1E was east of the summit pound, and Lock 1W was west of the summit pound. The Panama Canal also uses a lake (Lake Gatun) as its summit pound. The inverse of a summit pound is a sump pound. In contrast to a summit pound, a sump pound is a point where every boat entering or leaving the pound causes an addition of water. The longest one

640-411: A light boat was 62 hours, set by Raleigh Bender from Sharpsburg. Dent Shupp made it from Cumberland to Williamsport in 35 hours with 128 tons of coal. Following the disastrous flood of 1889, the canal company entered receivership with court-appointed trustees. The trustees were given the right to repair and operate the canal under continued court oversight. The trustees represented the majority owners of

720-609: A more "permanent" spillway. If the pound was many miles long, sometimes the canal would be designed with stop gates, so that if there was a break in the canal the whole pound would not lose all its water. Isolating the break would allow the company to make repairs sooner. For instance, on the 14 mile level of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, there were stop gates put before and after Big Pool so that it (the Big Pool lake) would not have to be drained in case of breaks or repairs. On

800-783: A second for the Great Western Railway incorporating a junction to the Marlborough branch line. Both stations and the M&;SWJR are long gone but the Network Rail main line from London to Penzance remains. There is also a minor road crossing here. Summit pound The longest canal pound in the United Kingdom is between the stop lock on the Trent and Mersey Canal at Preston Brook (Dutton Stop Lock No 76) and

880-475: Is driven through Upper Greensand Sandstone, brick-lined throughout and the portals – also in brick - are Grade II listed. There are no open-air shafts or a towpath. It is a large, two-way working tunnel 458m in length, 5.13m wide at water level and with a headroom of approximately 4.0m. Depth of water varies between 1.2m and 1.75m with approximately 500mm depth of silt on the invert. There are a total of four possible construction shafts (determined from features within

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960-431: Is normally controlled by a bywash weir at the lower lock, some of the water from the upper lock may be lost over it, and if the lower lock has a deeper fall, there is a net loss of level when a boat passes through the pound. A side pound is a particular type of extremely short lock pound, which is extended sideways to make up for the short distance between locks so as to avoid excessive level fluctuations. An example of this

1040-547: Is one of three which cross the Pennines , is 32 miles (51 km) long, but the summit pound is just 0.8 miles (1.3 km). To the north and east, 36 locks descend to Sowerby Bridge, while to the south and west, another 56 locks descend to Castlefield Junction, on the edge of Manchester . The summit pound is 600 feet (183 m) above sea level, and is one of the highest summit pounds in Britain. In order to keep it in water,

1120-615: Is the Caen Hill locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal . Climbing the hill that leads to Devizes requires 29 locks. The first seven and the last six have conventional pounds, but the middle sixteen have large side pounds, enabling all 16 to be fitted into a distance of around 0.6 miles (1.0 km). Serving a similar function are the side ponds on lock flights such as the Foxton flight . The ten locks are organised as two staircases of five chambers each, where each lock can discharge water into

1200-596: Is the 11.6-mile (18.7 km) Fenny Stratford pound on the Grand Union Canal , between Cosgrove Lock, which starts the ascent to the Braunston summit to the north, and Fenny Stratford lock, which starts the ascent to the Bulborne summit to the south. Every sump pound needs somewhere to discharge the surplus water, and in this case, a large viaduct and aqueduct immediately to the south of Cosgrove Lock carries

1280-721: The Lehigh Canal for their full year of business in 1820. Yet in 1850, the B&;O Railroad had already been operating in Cumberland for eight years, and the Canal suffered financially. Debt-ridden, the company dropped its plan to continue construction of the next 180 miles (290 km) of the canal into the Ohio Valley. The company long realized (especially with the experience at the Paw Paw tunnel) that construction over

1360-836: The Ohio River , which flows into the Mississippi River and ultimately to the Gulf of Mexico at New Orleans . In 1785, Washington founded the Potowmack Company to improve the navigability of the Potomac River. His company built five skirting canals around the major falls: Little Falls (later incorporated in the C&;O Canal), Great Falls in Virginia , Seneca Falls (opposite Violette's lock), Payne's Falls of

1440-632: The Washington City Canal , which extended through the future National Mall to the foot of the United States Capitol . A lock keeper's house at the eastern end of this Washington Branch of the C&O Canal remains at the southwest corner of Constitution Avenue and 17th Street, N.W., at the edge of the National Mall. In 1834, the section to Harper's Ferry opened and the canal reached Williamsport. In 1836,

1520-724: The Youghiogheny River ; and the western section from there to Pittsburgh. The total estimated price tag, more than $ 22 million, dampened the enthusiasm of many supporters, who were expecting an estimate in the $ 4 million to $ 5 million range. At a convention in December 1826, they attempted to discredit the engineers' report, and offered lower estimates: Georgetown to Cumberland, $ 5,273,283; Georgetown to Pittsburgh, $ 13,768,152. Geddes and Roberts were hired to make another report, which they gave in 1828: $ 4,479,346.93 for Georgetown to Cumberland. With those numbers to encourage them,

1600-678: The 3,118 ft (950 m) Paw Paw Tunnel . A planned section to the Ohio River at Pittsburgh was never built. The canal is now maintained as the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park , with a trail that follows the old towpath. After the American Revolutionary War , George Washington was the chief advocate of using waterways to connect the Eastern Seaboard to the Great Lakes and

1680-405: The 4-mile marker. Building the last 50-mile (80 km) segment proved difficult and expensive. Allen Bowie Davis took on the role of management. In Cumberland, Dam No. 8 and Guard Lock No. 8 had begun construction in 1837 and the final locks (70–75) to Cumberland were completed around 1840. That left an 18.5-mile (29.8 km) segment in the middle, which would eventually require building

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1760-518: The B&O from trying to sell it. In 1936, the B&O attempted to sell part of the canal from Point of Rocks to the District line. This was blocked by the courts which had continued to oversee the C&O trustees with the court saying "It is of course well known that the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company is not the owner of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal." At that time, the court also stated that

1840-590: The C&O Canal Company bonds issued in 1844. While the B&O owned the majority of the 1878 bonds, the B&O did not own a majority of the 1844 bonds as of 1890. However, by 1903, the B&O had acquired sufficient bonds to become "a majority holder", the reported reason being "to secure for the Wabash [railroad] system a foothold on the Atlantic seaboard" which had only been incorporated in February 1903. Over

1920-605: The C&O Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) began fighting for sole use of the narrow strip of available land along the Potomac River from Point of Rocks to Harpers Ferry . After a Maryland state court battle that involved Daniel Webster and Roger B. Taney , the companies agreed to share the right-of-way . In August 1829, the canal company began importing indentured laborers to Alexandria and Georgetown. These workers were promised meat three times

2000-482: The Company; many of them had become entirely unfit for use and were becoming worthless, rendering it absolutely essential to the requirements of the Company to have them repaired." Still, some improvements were made in the late 1860s, such as replacing Dams No. 4 and 5. The early 1870s, which Unrau calls the "Golden Years", were particularly profitable. The company repaid some of its bonds. It made many improvements to

2080-464: The Erie Canal, in the three mile long rock cut above Lockport, if a mule or horse fell into the canal pound, there were some escape "holes" cut in the towpath, a depression covered over by wooden boards, so that the animal could go into the "hole" and then be rescued. This was as a result of the bank being practically vertical, making it impossible to retrieve one that fell into the canal. Ramps at

2160-477: The Middlesex Canal. Pounds can be described in various ways according to their situation; A summit pound is formed at a summit on the canal, and where all the defining locks descend from the pound. Summit pounds are particularly important in canal design, as every boat entering or leaving the pound causes a loss of water. Summit pounds therefore need an independent form of water supply, which may take

2240-629: The Patowmack Little Falls Skirting Canal) was sufficient since that literally fulfilled the charter's condition of reaching the tidewater, but people in Washington wanted it to end in Washington, connecting to the Tiber Creek and Anacostia river. For that reason, the canal originally opened from Little Falls to Seneca, and the next year, was extended down to Georgetown. The Little Falls skirting canal, which

2320-407: The Paw Paw tunnel, digging the deep cut at Oldtown, and building 17 locks. Near Paw Paw, the engineers had no good solutions. If they followed the river, they would have to cross over to West Virginia to avoid the cliffs, and an agreement with the B&O Railroad specified that the canal would avoid the south side of the river, unless it was a place where the railroad would not need it. So they took

2400-812: The Shenandoah, and House's Falls near Harpers Ferry . These canals allowed an easy downstream float; upstream journeys, propelled by pole, were harder. Several kinds of watercraft were used on the Patowmack Canal and in the Potomac River . Gondolas were 60 by 10 ft (18 by 3 m) log rafts, usually sold at journey's end for their wood by their owners, who returned upstream on foot. Sharpers were flat-bottomed boats, 60 by 7 ft (18 by 2 m), usable only on high-water days, about 45 days per year. The Erie Canal , built between 1817 and 1825, threatened traders south of New York City, who began to seek their own transportation infrastructure to link

2480-400: The board to change their plans, routing the canal through the center of town. The canal was opened for trade to Cumberland on Thursday, October 10, 1850. On the first day, five canal boats, Southampton, Elizabeth, Ohio, Delaware and Freeman Rawdon loaded with a total of 491 tons of coal, came down from Cumberland. In one day, the C&O carried more coal in the first day of business than

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2560-483: The breach at Lock No. 37. For about a mile, there is scarcely a hundred feet in length of the canal in which there are not several small lime sink holes...". He recommended costly but necessary repairs, which were done by 1840. Since it was difficult to obtain stone for the locks, engineers built composite locks , sometimes of kyanized wood. In 1843, the Potomac Aqueduct Bridge was built near

2640-635: The break, and would swell when wet. After the water drained out through the break, it would be repaired. If the break was in the bank or berm of the canal, the crew would drive two rows of stakes, about a foot apart, across the breach, then weaving rope between them. Straw was put in it, and that would slow or stop the water flow. A row of planks were then driven to stop the flow, and then the break would be filled with dirt and rocks. Burrowing animals, such as muskrats , would cause leaks by digging holes. Indiana canals had leaks from burrowing crawfish . Canal companies would often post bounties for muskrats, e.g.

2720-540: The burgeoning areas west of the Appalachian Mountains to mid-Atlantic markets and ports. As early as 1820, plans were being laid for a canal to link the Ohio River and Chesapeake Bay. In early March 1825, President James Monroe signed the bill chartering the construction of the C&O Canal as one of the last acts of his presidency. The plan was to build it in two sections, the eastern section from

2800-412: The canal company prohibited liquor in a bid to improve the speed of construction, but soon repealed its ban. In August or September 1832, an epidemic of cholera swept through the construction camps, killing many workers and leading others to throw down their tools and flee. By 1833, the canal's Georgetown end was extended 1.5 miles (2.4 km) eastward to Tiber Creek , near the western terminus of

2880-400: The canal could not be sold in pieces but only in its entirety. In 1938, new trustees were appointed by the court to handle the sale under the court's continued oversight. Tolls were charged for cargo on the canal. In 1851, for instance, the toll rates on the Canal were set as follows: Tolls varied greatly, and frequently the board adopted new toll rates. Some boatmen would try to ship in

2960-467: The canal over the River Great Ouse , which serves that function. A lock pound lies between two locks which are only a short distance apart. Water levels in the pound are liable to fluctuate as the locks are used. Boats entering the pound from the lower level remove a lockful of water from the pound, while those using the upper lock add a lockful of water. Because the maximum level in the pound

3040-472: The canal was used by canal packets as a Star Route to carry mail from Georgetown to Shepherdstown . The contract was held by Albert Humrickhouse at $ 1,000 per annum for a daily service of 72 book miles. The canal approached Hancock, Maryland , by 1839. In March 1837, three surveys were made for a possible link to the northeast to Baltimore: via Westminster, via Monocacy -Linganore, and via Seneca, but they were all deemed impractical due to lack of water at

3120-417: The canal, as well as competitors such as stage coach lines or teamsters who would sabotage the canal by digging holes in the bank. Other duties included checking the waste weir gates to see if they were letting out the correct amount of water, checking aqueducts for damage, as well as being called in the night to search for missing persons supposedly drowned in the canal. If a break or leak was discovered and

3200-486: The canal, including the installation of a telephone system. Yet there were still floods and other problems. By 1872, so many vessels were unfit for navigation that the company required boats to undergo annual inspections and registration. In July 1876, the crew of the Lezan Ragan stayed afloat while loading in Cumberland only by her crew's pumping. She hit some abutments of the locks near Great Falls, and finally sank at

3280-426: The canal, using an undershot water wheel which was connected to another wheel which had buckets attached, thereby lifting the river water up to the canal. Where ice would form during winter, the canal prism would usually be closed and drained. During this time, sand bars would be dug out, locks and other structures would be fixed. Exceptions to this would include wartime necessities, i.e. the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

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3360-416: The canal. Any water higher than the highest board in the waste weir would flow over the board, and out of the canal pound. Boards could be added or taken out to adjust the height of water. Waste weirs often had paddle valves at the bottom, allowing the canal to be completely drained for repairs, emergencies, or at the end of the boating season for winter. On some canals (e.g. the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal) with

3440-481: The channel with timber. The Chesapeake and Ohio canal had frequent cave-ins due to limestone sinkholes near Shepherdstown, near Two Locks above Dam No. 4, around Four Locks, Big pool, and Roundtop Hill near Dam No. 6. requiring expensive repairs. After some years, the canal bed would settle and harden, and puddling would no longer be needed. One main concern to the engineer was the canal's water supply. Pumping would contribute greatly to operating expense, especially at

3520-499: The close proximity of Savernake Forest, a former royal hunting forest near Marlborough. Located on the canal summit level, the tunnel was built to avoid the need for several locks that would have been required for a longer alternative route and while it was expensive to build the Earl insisted upon it instead of an unsightly but cheaper cutting. Construction began in 1806 and finished in 1809 supervised by construction engineer John Rennie. It

3600-434: The company built a total of eight reservoirs near the summit pound. Hollingworth Reservoir was at a lower level than the summit, and so a steam engine was installed to pump the water up to a 4-mile (6.4 km) feeder, which delivered it to the summit pound. One reason for the present restriction on boat movements over the summit is that the water rights and associated works were sold to various local authorities in 1923 under

3680-458: The cross section of the canal prism in difficult terrain. This reduced maintenance expenditures but increased construction costs. In the end, two slackwaters (Big Slackwater above Dam No. 4, and Little Slackwater above Dam No. 5) and multiple composite locks (Locks 58–71) were built. At first, the canal company planned to use steamboats in the slackwaters, since without mules, the canal boats had to use oars to move upstream. After much discussion of

3760-475: The dangers of early steamboats, the company provided a towpath so that the mules could pull the boats through the slackwaters. From Lock 5 at Little Falls to Cumberland (as mentioned above, the canal started at Little Falls, and was later extended down to Georgetown), the canal was divided into three divisions (of about 60 miles (100 km) apiece), each of which was further divided into 120 sections of about 0.5 miles (800 m). A separate construction contract

3840-462: The development of pound locks to replace the earlier flash locks . A key feature of pound locks was that the intervening level between locks remained largely constant, as opposed to the variable levels created by the opening of flash locks. On some American canals, some pounds acquired nicknames due to the mileage between locks, e.g. the "Eight Mile Level" on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal was between Riley's Lock (Lock 24) and Edward's Ferry (Lock 25),

3920-441: The eastern end of the tunnel is a plaque commemorating its construction: The tunnel has red brick portals, capped with Bath stone , each with a decorative plaque of Pennant stone . Construction was begun in 1806 and finished in 1809. It is lined with English bond brickwork and has a wide bore to cope with the ' Newbury Barges ' used on this canal. There is no towpath through the tunnel, so walkers and cyclists must walk across

4000-443: The exception of short levels, almost every level had a waste weir between the locks. At locks, there was often a bypass weir which fed water to the flume, allowing water to bypass the lock into the lower pound. This could be adjusted, similar to the waste weir by adding or removing boards to control the water level. Spillways were also used, allowing the water to spill over and into the surrounding rivers. These may be positioned over

4080-434: The form of weirs on adjacent rivers , reservoirs or pumping stations . Common practice during canal design was to make summit pounds as large as practically possible, in order that losing a lockful of water would not lower the water level too significantly. The Rochdale Canal is a good example of a canal with a relatively short summit pound, which requires restrictions on lock workings at certain times. The canal, which

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4160-422: The level walker could not do repair it himself, he sent a message to the section superintendent or headquarters, and the section crew with a repair scow would come. These boats carried clay straw, takes, rope, wooden boards, and tools (picks & shovels). For culverts and flood gates, a row of heavy planks, interlocked with tongue and groove, would be driven across the canal (similar to a cofferdam) above and below

4240-673: The lockkeeper of the lock above for a swell, to raise the water in the level, so that they could get off the sand bar. Chesapeake and Ohio Canal The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal , abbreviated as the C&;O Canal and occasionally called the Grand Old Ditch , operated from 1831 until 1924 along the Potomac River between Washington, D.C. , and Cumberland, Maryland . It replaced the Potomac Canal , which shut down completely in 1828, and could operate during months in which

4320-462: The locks on the Grand Union Canal between Whilton Locks and lock 45 at Bulbourne, the junction with the Wendover Arm , were built with two such side ponds, although they are currently disused. Canals have several devices used to keep the water level from rising too high in the pounds, causing floods, washouts, and other damage. Waste weirs are used to regulate the height of the water in

4400-598: The mid-1870s that improved technology, specifically with larger locomotives and air brakes , allowed the railroad to set rates lower than the canal, and thus seal its fate. Sometime after the canal opened in 1850, a commemorative obelisk was erected near its Georgetown terminus. The canal deteriorated during the Civil War. In 1869, the company's annual report said, "During the last ten years little or nothing had been done toward repairing and improving lock-houses, culverts, aqueducts, locks, lock-gates and waste weirs of

4480-406: The more expensive decision to build a tunnel through the mountain. The initial cost estimate of $ 33,500 proved far too low. The tunnel was completed for $ 616,478.65 Among the components of the project, a kiln was built to provide bricks to line the tunnel. Originally, the company intended to go around Cumberland, behind the town of Wills Creek, but complaints from the citizens and the city caused

4560-541: The mountains going to Pittsburgh was "wildly unrealistic". Occasionally there was talk of continuing the canal, e.g. in 1874, an 8.4-mile (13.5 km) long tunnel was proposed to go through the Allegheny Mountains. Nevertheless, there was a tunnel built to connect with the Pennsylvania canal. Even though the railroad beat the canal to Cumberland, the canal was not entirely obsolete. It wasn't until

4640-407: The next decade, and particularly after 1902, boats on the canal shifted from independent operators to company-owned craft. Boats with colorful names ( Bertha M. Young or Lezen Ragan ) gave way to numbered craft ("Canal Towage Company" with a number) run by a schedule. Despite the B&O's status as a majority bondholder, the B&O can not be said to have ever owned the C&O. This did not stop

4720-412: The opening Lock 15 (at the head of Widewater). For a brief period in the 1860s and 1870s, the company attempted to prevent boating on Sundays. But boatmen broke padlocks on the lock gates and turned to violence when confronted. The company gave up trying to enforce the rule. The trip from Cumberland to Georgetown generally took about seven days. The fastest known time from Georgetown to Cumberland for

4800-400: The pond below it and receive water from the one above it. Although connected to the locks by sluices, they are still often called side pounds, as they are maintained at the level at which an intermediate pound would be if one were present. The term side pond is also used to refer to a water saving basin, which is maintained at a level between the upper and lower level of a single lock. Most of

4880-477: The present-day Francis Scott Key Bridge to connect the canal to the Alexandria Canal , which led to Alexandria, Virginia . In April 1843, floods damaged much of the finished portion of the canal between Georgetown and Harpers Ferry, including the Shenandoah river lock. One flood suspended navigation for 103 days. The company raised the embankments around Little Falls, and made a "tumbling waste" near

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4960-667: The side of canals next to the towpath are quite common in England particularly where horses were known to fall in. For example there is one on the Hanwell Lock Flight of locks on the Grand Union Canal . Canal levels sometimes have sand bars or shallow areas where the boat will get stuck. It is common on English canals for boaters to carry a barge pole to help punt the boat off an obstruction. Some boats carried long iron-tipped poles to push themselves off, although some canals forbade their use. Sometimes boatmen would ask

5040-575: The start of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal near Leigh (Poolstock Bottom Lock No 2), a distance of 39.5 miles (63.6 km). Another long pound is on the Kennet and Avon Canal between Wootton Rivers Bottom Lock and Caen Hill top lock. The longest level on the Erie Canal in New York was the 60 mile level (actually 64.2 miles (103.3 km)) between Henrietta and Lockport. Pounds came into being with

5120-455: The stockholders formally organized the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company in June 1828. In the end, the final construction cost to Cumberland in 1850 was $ 11,071,075.21. Compared to the original cost given by the engineers in 1826 of about $ 8 million, removing things not in the estimate such as land purchases, engineering expenses, incidental damages, salaries, and fencing provision, the cost overrun

5200-456: The summit level, hence gravity fed water is preferred. Feeder canals could be 20 miles (30 km) to 30 miles (50 km) in length, if needed. The canal bed would have to slope so that the water would not flow too fast down the canal and impede the progress of upstream boats. Rivers were often dammed to raise the water's height so that the canal could be fed, for instance, the Chesapeake and Ohio canal had seven dams built to feed water. If

5280-475: The summit level. The Canal reached Dam No. 6 (west of Hancock) in 1839. As the canal approached Hancock, more construction problems surfaced. Limestone sinkholes and caverns caused the canal bottom to cave in near Shepherdstown, near Two Locks above Dam No. 4, around Four Locks, Big pool, and Roundtop Hill near Dam No. 6. On 6 December 1839, Chief Engineer Fisk wrote, "These breaks have all evidently been occasioned by limestone sinks which exhibit themselves by

5360-511: The terms of the Oldham and Rochdale Corporations Water Act, as the subsequent increase in leisure traffic was not anticipated. The first canal to be constructed with a summit pound in the United Kingdom was the Newry Canal , completed in 1741, which linked Newry to Lough Neagh . The summit pound was 5.2 miles (8.4 km) long, between Poyntz Pass and Terryhoogan, but its water supply was

5440-472: The tidewater of Washington, D.C., to Cumberland, Maryland; and the western section over the Allegheny Mountains to the Ohio River or one of its tributaries. Free from taxation, the canal company was required to have 100 miles (160 km) in use in five years, and to complete the canal in 12 years. The canal was engineered to have a 2 miles per hour (3 km/h) water current, supplying the canal and assisting mules pulling boats downstream. The eastern section

5520-620: The top of the hill. When canal boats were still pulled by horses, the boatmen had to haul boats through the tunnel by hand, pulling on chains that ran along the inside walls. To the north lies the Savernake Forest which is open to the public with footpaths, drives and picnic sites, hence the tunnel is also sometimes known as the Savernake Tunnel. The main Paddington to Penzance ' Berks and Hants ' railway line crosses

5600-411: The towpath or on the berm side of the canal. An "informal overflow" on American canals is a dip in the towpath which functions as a spillway, but usually lacking concrete or formal structure. The boatmen sometimes called these "mule drinks", since the mules would drink from the water flowing over the towpath. Informal overflows were often replaced by a waste weir or lined with concrete or masonry to make

5680-406: The tunnel diagonally; both portals can be seen (from different points along the railway) from the windows of passing trains with the canal running close to the railway at each end. The Bruce Tunnel is named in recognition of the support given by the Earl of Ailesbury, Thomas Brudenell-Bruce and his son Lord Charles Bruce through whose estate the canal route was planned. The alternative name is due to

5760-478: The tunnel lining) located at 52m, 165m, 292m and 413m. While there are no signs of major repairs having taken place many minor repairs have been necessary with evidence of brickwork patch repairs and re-pointing to mortar joints both above and below water level. Above the tunnel the depth of cover is a maximum of 10m and this is the site of two former stations – one for the Midland & South West Junction Railway and

5840-609: The water level was too low for the former canal. The canal's principal cargo was coal from the Allegheny Mountains . Construction began in 1828 on the 184.5-mile (296.9 km) canal and ended in 1850 with the completion of a 50-mile (80 km) stretch to Cumberland, although the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad had already reached Cumberland in 1842. The canal had an elevation change of 605 feet (184 meters) which required 74 canal locks , 11 aqueducts to cross major streams, more than 240 culverts to cross smaller streams, and

5920-544: Was about 19%, which can be justified by the inflation rate of the period. The cost overrun of the other proposal (Geddes and Roberts) was about 51% thus showing that the original engineer's estimate was good. In 1824, the holdings of the Patowmack Company were ceded to the Chesapeake and Ohio Company. (Rejected names for the canal included the "Potomac Canal" and "Union Canal". ) By 1825, the Canal Company

6000-584: Was authorized by an act of the General Assembly of Maryland in the amount of subscriptions of $ 500,000; this paved the way for future investments and loans. According to historians, those financial resources were expended until the State had prostrated itself on its own credit. The C&O's first chief engineer was Benjamin Wright , formerly chief engineer of the Erie Canal . A groundbreaking ceremony

6080-464: Was held on July 4, 1828, attended by U.S. president John Quincy Adams . The ceremony was held near Georgetown , at the canal's eventual 5.64 miles (9.08 km) mark near Lock 6, the upstream end of the Little Falls skirting canal, and Dam No. 1. At the groundbreaking, there was still argument over the eastern end of the canal. The directors thought that Little Falls (at the downstream end of

6160-481: Was issued for each section. Locks, culverts, dams, etc. were listed on the contracts by section number, not by mileage as is done today. For instance, Locks 5 and 6 are on Section No. 1, all the way to Guard Lock No. 8 on section 367. Sections A–H were in the Georgetown level below lock 5 In November 1830, the canal opened from Little Falls to Seneca. The Georgetown section opened the following year. In 1828,

6240-579: Was left open in the winters of 1861–1862 because of the American Civil War. American canals often had a man called a "level walker" (Chesapeake and Ohio Canal), "bank watchman" (Erie Canal), towpath walker or inspector whose job was to walk along the pound (level) with a shovel, checking for leaks and repairing minor ones before the leak could cause major damage, and calling the section work crew for major ones. His rounds were about 20 to 24 miles daily. Muskrats would cause leaks by burrowing in

6320-523: Was part of the Patowmack Canal, was dredged to increase its depth from 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to 1.8 m), and became part of the C&O Canal. The first president of the canal, Charles F. Mercer , insisted on perfection since this was a work of national importance. This would cost the company more money to build the canal. During his term, he forbade the use of slackwaters for navigation, the use of composite locks (see section below), or reduction of

6400-620: Was the only part to be completed. On October 23, 1826, the engineers submitted the study, presenting the proposed canal route in three sections. The eastern section comprised Georgetown to Cumberland; the middle section, Cumberland (going up Wills Creek to Hyndman then across the Sand Patch Grade crossing the Eastern Continental Divide to Garrett ) to the confluence of the Casselman River and

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