Misplaced Pages

#281718

95-551: The Erie Canal crossed over the creek by an aqueduct at Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site . Two notable bridge collapses have occurred on Schoharie Creek. In 1987, two spans of the New York State Thruway collapsed . On August 28, 2011, the covered Old Blenheim Bridge collapsed due to flooding from Hurricane Irene . Schoharie Creek is part of the drainage system of the Hudson River watershed and

190-470: A canal across New York in the first decade of the 19th century. Shipping goods west from Albany was a costly and tedious affair; there was no railroad yet, and to cover the distance from Buffalo to New York City by stagecoach took two weeks. The problem was that the land rises about 600 feet (180 m) from the Hudson to Lake Erie. Locks at the time could handle up to 12 feet (3.7 m) of lift, so even with

285-636: A deeply cut channel. The final leg had to be cut 30 feet (9.1 m) deep through another limestone mass, the Onondaga ridge . Much of that section was blasted with black powder , and the inexperience of the crews often led to accidents, and sometimes to rocks falling on nearby homes. Two villages competed to be the terminus: Black Rock , on the Niagara River , and Buffalo, at the eastern tip of Lake Erie. Buffalo expended great energy to widen and deepen Buffalo Creek to make it navigable and to create

380-462: A direct tributary of the Mohawk River . Tributaries of Schoharie Creek, listed from upstream to downstream, include: Before European colonization, the watershed was mostly forested with a few small areas cleared by Native Americans for hunting. Early European settlers attempted to farm the land, but soon abandoned it due to the short growing seasons, steep slopes and rocky soil. Between 1800 and

475-723: A harbor at its mouth. Buffalo won over Black Rock, and grew into a large city, eventually encompassing its former rival. In 1824, before the canal was completed, a detailed Pocket Guide for the Tourist and Traveler, Along the Line of the Canals, and the Interior Commerce of the State of New York , was published for the benefit of travelers and land speculators. The entire canal was officially completed on October 26, 1825. The event

570-625: A lesser degree, related rivers, a large part of the continent's interior (and many settlements) would be made well connected to the Eastern seaboard. Among the first attempts made by European colonists to improve upon the future state's navigable waterways was the construction in 1702 of the Wood Creek Carry, or Oneida Carry a short portage road connecting Wood Creek to the Mohawk River near modern-day Rome, New York . However,

665-429: A maximum discharge of 111,000 cubic feet (3,100 m) per second on August 28, 2011, and a minimum discharge of 0.04 cubic feet (0.0011 m) per second on many days from June to October 1976, and September 11-13, 1980. The station by Breakabeen in operation since July 1975, 1.1 miles (1.8 km) downstream from Keyser Kill, had a maximum discharge of 134,000 cubic feet (3,800 m) per second on August 28, 2011, and

760-815: A maximum discharge of 120,000 cubic feet (3,400 m) per second on August 28, 2011, with no minimum discharge recorded. Below the Schoharie Reservoir is the station by Gilboa in operation since October 1975, 0.5 miles (0.80 km) downstream from the Schoharie Reservoir dam, had a maximum discharge of 111,000 cubic feet (3,100 m) per second on August 28, 2011, and a minimum discharge of 0.04 cubic feet (0.0011 m) per second on many days from June to October 1976, and September 11-13, 1980. Another station by North Blenheim in operation continuously since October 1970, 1.2 miles (1.9 km) upstream from bridge on State Highway 30 in North Blenheim, had

855-544: A minimum discharge of 1.7 cubic feet (0.048 m) per second on October 14, 1988. Further downstream the station by Middleburgh in operation from July 1927 to September 1939 and since December 2017, slightly downstream of the bridge at intersection of State Highways 30 and 145 in Middleburgh, had a maximum discharge of 47,800 cubic feet (1,350 m) per second on March 18, 1936, and a minimum discharge of 2 cubic feet (0.057 m) per second on September 1, 1939. Outside

950-447: A particle is in suspension or not depends on the flow velocity – it is easy to imagine a particle moving between bed load, part-suspension and full suspension in a fluid with variable flow. Suspended load generally consists of fine sand, silt and clay size particles although larger particles (coarser sands) may be carried in the lower water column in more intense flows. Suspended load and suspended sediment are very similar, but are not

1045-759: A point in the Montezuma Marsh . There the Cayuga and Seneca Canal continued south with the Seneca River, and the new Erie Canal again ran parallel to the old canal along the bottom of the Niagara Escarpment, in some places running along the Clyde River, and in some places replacing the old canal. At Pittsford , southeast of Rochester, the canal turned west to run around the south side of Rochester, rather than through downtown. The canal crosses

SECTION 10

#1732772192282

1140-524: A scraper and a plow, a three-man team with oxen, horses and mules could build a mile in a year. The remaining problem was finding labor; increased immigration helped fill the need. Many of the laborers working on the canal were Irish , who had recently come to the United States as a group of about 5,000. Most of them were Roman Catholic, a religion that raised much suspicion in early America because of its hierarchic structure, and many laborers on

1235-529: A shorter canal from Lake Ontario . The proposal drew attention and some action but was never implemented. Jesse Hawley had envisioned encouraging the growing of large quantities of grain on the western New York plains (then largely unsettled) for sale on the Eastern seaboard . However, he went bankrupt trying to ship grain to the coast. While in Canandaigua debtors' prison , Hawley began pressing for

1330-409: A walkway known as a towpath . Its construction, through limestone and mountains, proved a daunting task. To move earth, animals pulled a "slip scraper" (similar to a bulldozer ). The sides of the canal were lined with stone set in clay, and the bottom was also lined with clay. The Canal was built by Irish laborers and German stonemasons. All labor on the canal depended upon human and animal power or

1425-416: Is 1.2 miles (1.9 km) east of Lexington in operation since 1999, had a maximum discharge of 40,500 cubic feet (1,150 m) per second on August 28, 2011, as Hurricane Irene passed through the area , and a minimum discharge of 4.8 cubic feet (0.14 m) per second on August 21–22, 2002. Another station by Prattsville in operation since 1902, 0.2 miles (0.32 km) upstream from Schoharie Reservoir, had

1520-592: Is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie . Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes , vastly reducing the costs of transporting people and goods across the Appalachians . The Erie Canal accelerated the settlement of the Great Lakes region , the westward expansion of

1615-655: Is a popular cycling path that follows the canal across the state. In 2000, Congress designated the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor to protect and promote the system. The waterway today referred to as the Erie Canal is quite different from the nineteenth-century Erie Canal. More than half of the original Erie Canal was destroyed or abandoned during construction of the New York State Barge Canal in

1710-413: Is about 565 feet (172 m). The Erie's peak year was 1855, when 33,000 commercial shipments took place. It continued to be competitive with railroads until about 1902, when tolls were abolished. Commercial traffic declined heavily in the latter half of the 20th century due to competition from trucking and the 1959 opening of the larger St. Lawrence Seaway . The canal's last regularly scheduled hauler,

1805-427: Is kept suspended by the fluid's turbulence . The suspended load generally consists of smaller particles, like clay , silt , and fine sands . The suspended load is one of the three layers of the fluvial sediment transportation system. The bed load consists of the larger sediment which is transported by saltation , rolling, and dragging on the riverbed . The suspended load is the middle layer that consists of

1900-595: Is located by the US Route 20 bridge has been in operation since December 2017, takes gauge height measurements only. It had a maximum gauge height of 10.85 feet (3.31 m) on April 15, 2019 and a minimum gage height of 0.78 feet (0.24 m) on July 22, 2018. Outside the period of record, the flood of August 2011 reached a stage of 33.70 feet (10.27 m) from floodmark. The station in Burtonsville in operation since October 1939, 15 miles (24 km) upstream from

1995-541: Is now re-watered and again accessible by boats. With several miles of the Canal inland of this location still lying under 20th-century fill and urban construction, the effective western navigable terminus of the Erie Canal is found at Tonawanda. The new alignment began on the Hudson River at the border between Cohoes and Waterford , where it ran northwest with five locks (the so-called " Waterford Flight "), running into

SECTION 20

#1732772192282

2090-770: The Day Peckinpaugh , ended service in 1994. Today, the Erie Canal is mainly used by recreational watercraft. It connects the three other canals in the New York State Canal System : the Champlain , Oswego , and Cayuga–Seneca . Some long-distance boaters take the Erie as part of the Great Loop . The canal has also become a tourist attraction in its own right—several parks and museums are dedicated to its history. The New York State Canalway Trail

2185-614: The Appalachian Mountains , separating them from the geologically distinct Adirondacks to the north. The Mohawk and Hudson valleys form the only cut across the Appalachians north of Alabama . A navigable canal through the Mohawk Valley would allow an almost complete water route from New York City in the south to Lake Ontario and Lake Erie in the west. Via the canal and these lakes, other Great Lakes, and to

2280-469: The Capital Region and west to Buffalo. The area has a population of 2.7 million; about 75% of Central and Western New York's population lives within 25 miles (40 km) of the Erie Canal. There were some 42 commercial shipments on the canal in 2008, compared to 15 such shipments in 2007 and more than 33,000 shipments in 1855, the canal's peak year. The new growth in commercial traffic is due to

2375-712: The French and Indian War ended in 1763. Reorganized by then as the Six Nations the tribes had conducted internecine war with other powerful eastern tribes until the 1770s, weakening or eliminating the power of the Delaware, the Susquehanna, and Shawnee tribes— affecting Amerindian populations and power both East and West of the Alleghenies as far south as northern Kentucky in the west, and southern Maryland in

2470-578: The Genesee River at the Genesee Valley Park , then rejoins the old path near North Gates . From there it was again roughly an upgrade to the original canal, running west to Lockport. This reach of 64.2 miles (103.3 km) from Henrietta to Lockport is called "the 60‑mile level" since there are no locks and the water level rises only two feet (0.61 m) over the entire segment. Diversions from and to adjacent natural streams along

2565-540: The New York Central Railroad and its Auburn Road in 1853) was open the whole way to Buffalo. As the railroad served the same general route as the canal, but provided for faster travel, passengers soon switched to it. However, as late as 1852, the canal carried thirteen times more freight tonnage than all the railroads in New York State combined. The New York, West Shore and Buffalo Railway

2660-574: The New York State Barge Canal began, which was completed in 1918, at a cost of $ 96.7 million. This new canal replaced much of the original route, leaving many abandoned sections (most notably between Syracuse and Rome). New digging and flood control technologies allowed engineers to canalize rivers that the original canal had sought to avoid, such as the Mohawk, Seneca , and Clyde rivers, and Oneida Lake. In sections that did not consist of canalized rivers (particularly between Rochester and Buffalo),

2755-484: The Niagara Escarpment , an 80-foot (24 m)-high wall of hard dolomitic limestone . The route followed the channel of a creek that had cut a ravine steeply down the escarpment. The construction and operation of two sets of five locks along a 3-mile (4.8 km) corridor soon gave rise to the community of Lockport . The 12-foot (3.7 m) lift-locks had a total lift of 60 feet (18 m), exiting into

2850-407: The water quality of Schoharie Creek in different sections. The section from Cobleskill Creek to Pleasant Valley Brook is rated Class C, which is most suitable for fishing, but can also be suitable for primary and secondary contact recreation. Stream flow on the lower Schoharie is significantly influenced by the Schoharie Reservoir. Flow from the reservoir is restricted when the dam is not open, and

2945-699: The 1920s. The Genesee Valley Canal was run along the Genesee River to connect with the Allegheny River at Olean , but the Allegheny section, which would have connected to the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, was never built. The Genesee Valley Canal was later abandoned and became the route of the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad . The original design planned for an annual tonnage of 1.5 million tons (1.36 million metric tons), but this

Schoharie Creek - Misplaced Pages Continue

3040-697: The American Revolution, one of the lesser known grievances of many held by the settlers. During the Revolution, farms in the valley acted as a breadbasket providing important food supplies to the Colonial forces. The lower Mohawk valley was a scene of uneasy native Amerindian – Colonial Settler contention throughout most of the 18th century until after the American Revolutionary War 's Sullivan Expedition pacified

3135-659: The Erie Canal into a system. These included the Cayuga-Seneca Canal south to the Finger Lakes , the Oswego Canal from Three Rivers north to Lake Ontario at Oswego , and the Champlain Canal from Troy north to Lake Champlain. From 1833 to 1877, the short Crooked Lake Canal connected Keuka Lake and Seneca Lake . The Chemung Canal connected the south end of Seneca Lake to Elmira in 1833, and

3230-514: The Erie Canal was a landmark civil engineering achievement in the early history of the United States . When built, the 363-mile (584 km) canal was the second-longest in the world after the Grand Canal in China . Initially 40 feet (12 m) wide and 4 feet (1.2 m) deep, the canal was expanded several times, most notably from 1905 to 1918 when the "Barge Canal" was built and over half

3325-499: The Genesee River near Rochester. The former ultimately required building the 1,320-foot (400 m) long "Great Embankment", to carry the canal at a height of 76 feet (23 m) above the level of the creek, which ran through a 245-foot (75 m) culvert underneath. The canal crossed the river on a stone aqueduct, 802 feet (244 m) long and 17 feet (5.2 m) wide, supported by 11 arches. In 1823 construction reached

3420-407: The Mohawk River east of Crescent . The Waterford Flight is claimed to be one of the steepest series of locks in the world. While the old Canal ran next to the Mohawk all the way to Rome, the new canal ran through the river, which was straightened or widened where necessary. At Ilion , the new canal left the river for good, but continued to run on a new alignment parallel to both the river and

3515-565: The New York State Canal System as a whole was used to ship 42,000 tons of cargo. Travel on the canal's middle section (particularly in the Mohawk Valley) was severely hampered by flooding in late June and early July 2006. Flood damage to the canal and its facilities was estimated as at least $ 15 million. The Erie made use of the favorable conditions of New York's unique topography, which provided that area with

3610-654: The Schoharie Creek Bridge collapsed due to heavy rainfall, the rush of water through the Blenheim-Gilboa Pumped Storage Power Project 40 miles (64 km) upstream hit a historic high. To cope with the overload, the dam released water into the Schoharie Creek according to the rate at which it was entering the reservoir from upstream, adding to the load in the creek. The segment of NY 5S near Fort Hunter

3705-498: The United States, and the economic ascendancy of New York state . It has been called "The Nation's First Superhighway ." A canal from the Hudson River to the Great Lakes was first proposed in the 1780s, but a formal survey was not conducted until 1808. The New York State Legislature authorized construction in 1817. Political opponents of the canal (referencing its lead supporter New York Governor DeWitt Clinton ) denigrated

3800-473: The United States. James Geddes and Benjamin Wright , who laid out the route, were judges whose experience in surveying was in settling boundary disputes . Geddes had only used a surveying instrument for a few hours before his work on the Canal. Canvass White was a 27-year-old amateur engineer who persuaded Clinton to let him go to Britain at his own expense to study the canal system there. Nathan Roberts

3895-468: The Waters". On its return trip, Seneca Chief brought back a keg of Atlantic Ocean water, which was poured into Lake Erie by Buffalo's Judge Samuel Wilkeson , who would later become mayor. The Erie Canal was thus completed in eight years at a total length of 353 miles (568 km) and cost $ 7.143 million (equivalent to $ 192 million in 2023). It was acclaimed as an engineering marvel that united

Schoharie Creek - Misplaced Pages Continue

3990-568: The West would enjoy economic success, and the port at the seaward end of such a route would see business increase greatly. In time, projects were devised in Virginia , Maryland , Pennsylvania , and relatively deep into the coastal states. The Mohawk River (a tributary of the Hudson River ) rises near Lake Ontario and runs in a glacial meltwater channel just north of the Catskill range of

4085-426: The abandonment of short segments of the original 1825 canal. The First Enlargement was completed in 1862, with further minor enlargements in later decades. The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad opened in 1837, providing a bypass to the slowest part of the canal between Albany and Schenectady. Other railroads were soon chartered and built to continue the line west to Buffalo, and in 1842 a continuous line (which later became

4180-405: The canal suffered violent assault as the result of misjudgment and xenophobia . Construction continued at an increased rate as new workers arrived. When the canal reached Montezuma Marsh (at the outlet of Cayuga Lake west of Syracuse ), it was rumored that over 1,000 workers died of "swamp fever" (malaria), and construction was temporarily stopped. However, recent research has revealed that

4275-420: The canal would not be finished for 30 years. The main delays were caused by felling trees to clear a path through virgin forest and moving excavated soil, which took longer than expected, but the builders devised ways to solve these problems. To fell a tree, they threw rope over the top branches and winched it down. They pulled out the stumps with an innovative stump puller . Two huge wheels were mounted loose on

4370-719: The channel of Tonawanda Creek . From the Tonawanda south toward Buffalo, it ran just east of the Niagara River, where it reached its "Western Terminus" at Little Buffalo Creek (later it became the Commercial Slip ), which discharged into the Buffalo River just above its confluence with Lake Erie . With Buffalo's re-excavation of the Commercial Slip, completed in 2008, the Canal's original terminus

4465-478: The coast. Frequently it was not worth the cost of transporting it to far-away population centers. This was a factor leading to farmers in the west turning their grains into whiskey for easier transport and higher sales, and later the Whiskey Rebellion . In the 18th and early 19th centuries, it became clear to coastal residents that the city or state that succeeded in developing a cheap, reliable route to

4560-525: The construction of a canal along the 90-mile-long (140 km) Mohawk River valley with support from Joseph Ellicott (agent for the Holland Land Company in Batavia ). Ellicott realized that a canal would add value to the land he was selling in the western part of the state. He later became the first canal commissioner. New York legislators became interested in the possibility of building

4655-411: The country and helped New York City develop as an international trade center. Problems developed but were quickly solved. Leaks developed along the entire length of the canal, but these were sealed using cement that hardened underwater ( hydraulic cement ). Erosion on the clay bottom proved to be a problem and the speed was limited to 4 mph (6.4 km/h). Additional feeder canals soon extended

4750-571: The creation of the "Western and Northern Inland Lock Navigation Companies" in 1792, which took the first steps to improve navigation on the Mohawk and construct a canal between the Mohawk and Lake Ontario, but it was soon discovered that private financing was insufficient. Christopher Colles , who was familiar with the Bridgewater Canal, surveyed the Mohawk Valley, and made a presentation to the New York state legislature in 1784, proposing

4845-452: The death toll was likely much lower, as no contemporary reports mention significant worker mortality, and mass graves from the period have never been found in the area. Work continued on the downhill side towards the Hudson, and the crews worked on the section across the swampland when it froze in winter. The middle section from Utica to Salina (Syracuse) was completed in 1820, and traffic on that section started up immediately. Expansion to

SECTION 50

#1732772192282

4940-610: The diagram shows the rate, one flaw about the Hjulström Diagram is that it doesn't show the depth of the creek giving an estimated rate. The second diagram used is the Shields Diagram. The Shields Diagram (based on the Shields formula ) uses the critical shear stress and Reynolds number to estimate transportation rate. The Shields Diagram is considered a more precise chart to estimate suspended load. To find

5035-510: The early 1900s, mills, the tanning industry, quarrying for bluestone, logging, railroads, and resorts cleared the Catskills of most of its forest cover. Starting in the early 1900s, these industries began to decline and areas that were previously cleared have grown back into forest. As of 2001, approximately 85% of the Schoharie Creek's watershed has been classified as forested. New York's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) rates

5130-460: The early 20th century. The sections of the original route remaining in use were widened significantly, mostly west of Syracuse, with bridges rebuilt and locks replaced. It was called the Barge Canal at the time, but that name fell into disuse with the disappearance of commercial traffic and the increase of recreational travel in the later 20th century. Before railroads , water transport was

5225-425: The east and west proceeded simultaneously, and the whole eastern section, 250 miles (400 km) from Brockport to Albany, opened on September 10, 1823, to great fanfare. The Champlain Canal , a separate but connected 64-mile (103 km) north–south route from Watervliet on the Hudson to Lake Champlain , opened on the same date. After Montezuma Marsh, the next difficulties were crossing Irondequoit Creek and

5320-628: The east. By the end of the French and Indian War, they were the one remaining group of eastern native peoples that retained sufficient military power to give even the British authorities pause. Consequently, those authorities cultivated political arrangements with the Iroquois and as a prelude to the revolution, the British Crown acted to block trans-Appalachian settlements before the opening of

5415-421: The ends of an axle. A third wheel, slightly smaller than the others, was fixed to the center of the axle. A chain was wrapped around the axle and hooked to the stump. A rope was wrapped around the center wheel and hooked to a team of oxen. The mechanical advantage (torque) obtained ripped the stumps out of the soil. Soil to be moved was shoveled into large wheelbarrows that were dumped into mule-pulled carts. Using

5510-455: The first documented instance of the idea of a canal to tie the East Coast to the new western settlements via New York's waterways was discussed as early as 1724: New York provincial official Cadwallader Colden made a passing reference (in a report on fur trading) to improving the natural waterways of western New York. Colden and subsequent figures in the history of the Erie Canal and its development would draw inspiration from other great works of

5605-473: The force of water. Engineering techniques developed during its construction included the building of aqueducts to redirect water; one aqueduct was 950 feet (290 m) long to span 800 feet (240 m) of river. As the canal progressed, the crews and engineers working on the project developed expertise and became a skilled labor force. The men who planned and oversaw construction were novices as surveyors and as engineers . There were no civil engineers in

5700-420: The heftiest cuttings and viaducts , fifty locks would be required along the 360-mile (580 km) canal. Such a canal would be expensive to build even with modern technology; in 1800, the expense was barely imaginable. President Thomas Jefferson called it "little short of madness" and rejected it. Eventually, Hawley interested New York Governor DeWitt Clinton in the project. There was much opposition, and

5795-437: The horses, go slack, fall into the water and sink to the bottom, while his boat coasted with its remaining momentum. The privileged boat's team would step over the other boat's towline, with its horses pulling the boat over the sunken towline without stopping. Once clear, the other boat's team would continue on its way. Pulled by teams of horses, canal boats moved slowly, but methodically, shrinking time and distance. Efficiently,

SECTION 60

#1732772192282

5890-608: The lack of flow mostly during the summer increases water temperature, which negatively affects the fishery. Also this section flows through an agricultural valley, which contributes to increased sediment in the creek. This increases streambank erosion and sediment loadings, and during high flows, cause the creek's turbidity to increase. Biological tests were conducted in Fort Hunter in 2001, then in Burtonsville in 2001, and showed non-impacted water quality conditions at both sites. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) maintains many stream gauges along Schoharie Creek. The first station

5985-518: The lake. From Canastota west, it ran roughly along the north (lower) edge of the Onondaga Escarpment , passing through Syracuse, Onondaga Lake , and Rochester. Before reaching Rochester, the canal uses a series of natural ridges to cross the deep valley of Irondequoit Creek . At Lockport the canal turned southwest to rise to the top of the Niagara Escarpment , using the ravine of Eighteen Mile Creek . The canal continued south-southwest to Pendleton , where it turned west and southwest, mainly using

6080-437: The mean flow velocity of the stream, with a Rouse number between 0.8 and 1.2. The rates within the Rouse number reveal how at which the sediment will transport at the current velocity. It is the ratio of the fall velocity and uplift velocity on a grain. Suspended load is often visualised using two diagrams. The Hjulström curve uses velocity and sediment size to compare the rate of erosion, transportation, and deposition. While

6175-498: The minimum was 2 mg/L on October 1–2, 2014. On June 14, 2013, the maximum daily suspended sediment discharge was 48,400 tons (43,900,000 kg) on June 14, 2013, and .16 tons (150 kg) on October 1–2, 2014. In the 18th century, areas of the south (or right bank ) side of Mohawk Valley were sparsely settled in the face of the periodically warlike and always militant Iroquois peoples, who, while diminished by European diseases during colonial times still retained ample war powers after

6270-426: The morning of April 5, 1987, after 30 years of service, two spans of the New York State Thruway bridge over Schoharie Creek near Fort Hunter collapsed. Five vehicles fell into the flooded river, resulting in ten deaths. A subsequent investigation of the collapse determined the cause to be scour . At the time, the creek was higher and flowing faster than normal due to excessive rains in the area. Twelve hours before

6365-409: The most cost-effective way to ship bulk goods . A mule can only carry about 250 pounds (110 kg) but can draw a barge weighing as much as 60,000 pounds (27,000 kg) along a towpath . In total, a canal could cut transport costs by about 95 percent. In the early years of the United States, transportation of goods between the coastal ports and the interior was slow and difficult. Close to

6460-400: The mouth, had a maximum discharge of 128,000 cubic feet (3,600 m) per second on August 29, 2011, and a minimum discharge of 2.4 cubic feet (0.068 m) per second on September 24–25, 1964. The USGS station along the creek near Burtonsville , collects turbidity data every 15 minutes. The maximum daily suspended sediment concentrations (SSC) mean was 1460 mg/L on June 14, 2013, and

6555-492: The newly created New York State Canal Corporation , a subsidiary of the New York State Thruway Authority . While part of the Thruway, the canal system was operated using money generated by Thruway tolls. In 2017, the New York State Canal Corporation was transferred from the New York State Thruway to the New York Power Authority . In 2000, Congress designated the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor , covering 524 miles (843 km) of navigable water from Lake Champlain to

6650-441: The north side. When canal boats met, the boat with the right of way remained on the towpath side of the canal. The other boat steered toward the berm (or heelpath) side of the canal. The driver (or "hoggee", pronounced HO-gee) of the privileged boat kept his towpath team by the canalside edge of the towpath, while the hoggee of the other boat moved to the outside of the towpath and stopped his team. His towline would be unhitched from

6745-469: The old canal to Rome. From Rome, the new route continued almost due west, merging with Fish Creek just east of its entry into Oneida Lake. From Oneida Lake, the new canal ran west along the Oneida River , with cutoffs to shorten the route. At Three Rivers , the Oneida River turns northwest, and was deepened for the Oswego Canal to Lake Ontario. The new Erie Canal turned south there along the Seneca River, which turns west near Syracuse and continues west to

6840-508: The only break in the Appalachians south of the St. Lawrence River . The Hudson is tidal to Troy , and Albany is west of the Appalachians. It allowed for east–west navigation from the coast to the Great Lakes within US territory. The canal began on the west side of the Hudson River at Albany, and ran north to Watervliet , where the Champlain Canal branched off. At Cohoes , it climbed the escarpment on

6935-495: The original Erie Canal channel was enlarged to 120 feet (37 m) wide and 12 feet (3.7 m) deep. The expansion allowed barges up to 2,000 short tons (1,800 t) to use the Canal. This expensive project was politically unpopular in parts of the state not served by the canal, and failed to save it from becoming obsolete for commercial shipping. Freight traffic reached a total of 5.2 million short tons (4.7 million metric tons) by 1951. The growth of railroads and highways across

7030-623: The original route was abandoned. The modern Barge Canal measures 351 miles (565 km) long, 120 feet (37 m) wide, and 12 feet (3.7 m) deep. It has 34 locks , including the Waterford Flight , the steepest locks in the United States. When leaving the canal, boats must also traverse the Black Rock Lock to reach Lake Erie or the Troy Federal Lock to reach the tidal Hudson. The overall elevation difference

7125-612: The period of record, it had an estimated maximum discharge of 130,000 cubic feet (3,700 m) per second on August 28, 2011. The station in Schoharie is located upstream from bridge on County Highway 1A has been in operation since December 2017, takes gauge height measurements only. It had a maximum gauge height of 13.42 feet (4.09 m) on August 14, 2018 and a minimum gage height of 4.47 feet (1.36 m) on many days between September 22 and October 1 in 2019. The station in Esperance

7220-447: The project as "Clinton's Folly" and "Clinton's Big Ditch". Nonetheless, the canal saw quick success upon opening on October 26, 1825, with toll revenue covering the state's construction debt within the first year of operation. The westward connection gave New York City a strong advantage over all other U.S. ports and brought major growth to canal cities such as Albany , Utica , Syracuse , Rochester , and Buffalo . The construction of

7315-406: The project was ridiculed as "Clinton's folly" and "Clinton's ditch". In 1817, though, Clinton received approval from the legislature for $ 7 million for construction. The original canal was 363 miles (584 km) long, from Albany on the Hudson to Buffalo on Lake Erie. The channel was cut 40 feet (12 m) wide and 4 feet (1.2 m) deep, with removed soil piled on the downhill side to form

7410-540: The region by permanently weakening the Six Nations of the Iroquois . That campaign was a direct result of two atrocities in the region: The May 1778 Battle of Cobleskill (or Cobleskill Creek Massacre) signaled a new guerrilla war offensive by mixed troops of Loyalists and members of the four Iroquois tribes allied to the British in 1778. The incursions resulted in three major raids with major loss of life ranging from Southern New York to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania . On

7505-417: The rising cost of diesel fuel. Canal barges can carry a short ton of cargo 514 miles (827 km) on one gallon of diesel fuel, while a gallon allows a train to haul the same amount of cargo 202 miles (325 km) and a truck 59 miles (95 km). Canal barges can carry loads up to 3,000 short tons (2,700 long tons), and are used to transport objects that would be too large for road or rail shipment. In 2012,

7600-509: The same. Suspended Sediment contains sediment uplifted in Fluvial zones, but unlike suspended load no turbulence is required to keep it uplifted. Suspended loads required the Velocity to keep the sediment transporting above the bed. With low velocity the sediment will deposit. The suspended load is carried within the lower to middle part of the water column and moves at a large fraction of

7695-422: The seacoast, rivers provided easy inland transport up to the fall line , since floating vessels encounter much less friction than land vehicles. However, the Appalachian Mountains were a great obstacle to further transportation or settlement, stretching 1,500 miles (2,400 km) from Maine to Alabama , with just five places where mule trains or wagon roads could be routed. Passengers and freight bound for

7790-420: The smaller sediment that's suspended. The wash load is uppermost layer which consist of the smallest sediment that can be seen with the naked eye; however, the wash load gets easily mixed with suspended load during transportation due to the very similar process. The wash load never touches the bed even outside of a current. The boundary between bed load and suspended load is not straightforward because whether

7885-415: The smooth, nonstop method of transportation cut the travel time between Albany and Buffalo nearly in half, moving by day and by night. Migrants took passage on freight boats, camping on deck or on top of crates. Suspended sediment The suspended load of a flow of fluid , such as a river , is the portion of its sediment uplifted by the fluid's flow in the process of sediment transportation . It

7980-601: The so-called " canal age ," including France's Canal du Midi and the Bridgewater Canal in England . The attempt in the 1780s by George Washington to build a canal from the tidewaters of the Potomac into the fledgling nation's interior was also well known to the planners of the Erie Canal. Gouverneur Morris and Elkanah Watson were early proponents of a canal along the Mohawk River . Their efforts led to

8075-508: The state, and the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959, caused commercial traffic on the canal to decline dramatically during the second half of the 20th century. Since the 1990s, the canal system has been used primarily by recreational traffic. In 1992, the New York State Barge Canal was renamed the New York State Canal System (including the Erie, Cayuga-Seneca , Oswego, and Champlain canals) and placed under

8170-692: The stream power for sediment transportation, shear stress helps determine the force required to allow sediment transportation. τ = P w . g . d . s {\displaystyle \tau =Pw.g.d.s} The point at which the sediment is transported within a stream τ c = τ c . g . ( p s − p w ) d 50 {\displaystyle \tau {\scriptstyle {\text{c}}}=\tau {\scriptstyle {\text{c}}}.g.(p{\scriptstyle {\text{s}}}-p{\scriptstyle {\text{w}}})d50} q s = w . h . c

8265-517: The way are used to maintain the canal's level. It runs southwest to Tonawanda , where the new alignment discharges into the Niagara River, which is navigable upstream to the New York Barge Canal 's Black Rock Lock and thence to the Canal's original "Western Terminus" at Buffalo's Inner Harbor . Canal boats up to 3.5 feet (1.1 m) in draft were pulled by horses and mules walking on the towpath. The canal had one towpath, generally on

8360-546: The west side of the Hudson River—16 locks rising 140 feet (43 m)—and then turned west along the south shore of the Mohawk River, crossing to the north side at Crescent and again to the south at Rexford . The canal continued west near the south shore of the Mohawk River all the way to Rome, where the Mohawk turns north. At Rome , the canal continued west parallel to Wood Creek , which flows westward into Oneida Lake , and turned southwest and west cross-country to avoid

8455-491: The western parts of the country had to travel overland, a journey made more difficult by the rough condition of the roads. In 1800, it typically took 2½ weeks to travel overland from New York to Cleveland, Ohio , (460 miles; 740 km) and 4 weeks to Detroit (612 miles; 985 km). The principal exportable product of the Ohio Valley was grain, which was a high-volume, low-priced commodity, bolstered by supplies from

8550-617: Was a mathematics teacher and land speculator . Yet these men "carried the Erie Canal up the Niagara escarpment at Lockport , maneuvered it onto a towering embankment to cross over Irondequoit Creek , spanned the Genesee River on an awesome aqueduct , and carved a route for it out of the solid rock between Little Falls and Schenectady —and all of those venturesome designs worked precisely as planned". Construction began on July 4, 1817, at Rome, New York . The first 15 miles (24 km), from Rome to Utica , opened in 1819. At that rate,

8645-604: Was an important route for Pennsylvania coal and timber into the canal system. The Chenango Canal in 1836 connected the Erie Canal at Utica to Binghamton and caused a business boom in the Chenango River valley. The Chenango and Chemung canals linked the Erie with the Susquehanna River system. The Black River Canal connected the Black River to the Erie Canal at Rome and remained in operation until

8740-591: Was completed in 1884, as a route running closely parallel to both the canal and the New York Central Railroad. However, it went bankrupt and was acquired the next year by the New York Central. The canal continued to compete well with the railroads through 1902, when tolls were abolished. In a November 3, 1903 referendum, a majority of New Yorkers authorized an expansion of the canal at a cost of $ 101,000,000. In 1905, construction of

8835-532: Was exceeded immediately. An ambitious program to improve the canal began in 1834. During this massive series of construction projects, known as the First Enlargement, the canal was widened from 40 to 70 feet (12 to 21 m) and deepened from 4 to 7 feet (1.2 to 2.1 m). Locks were widened and/or rebuilt in new locations, and many new navigable aqueducts were constructed. The canal was straightened and slightly re-routed in some stretches, resulting in

8930-406: Was marked by a statewide "Grand Celebration", culminating in a series of cannon shots along the length of the canal and the Hudson, a 90-minute cannonade from Buffalo to New York City. A flotilla of boats, led by Governor Dewitt Clinton aboard Seneca Chief , sailed from Buffalo to New York City over ten days. Clinton then ceremonially poured Lake Erie water into New York Harbor to mark the "Wedding of

9025-501: Was reconfigured to carry westbound Thruway traffic while the bridge was rebuilt. The eastbound replacement bridge was completed and fully open to traffic on December 7, 1987, and the westbound replacement bridge was opened on May 21, 1988. The Old Blenheim Bridge , one of the longest and oldest single-span covered bridges in the world, formerly spanned the creek. The bridge was destroyed on August 28, 2011 by flooding resulting from Hurricane Irene . Erie Canal The Erie Canal

#281718