Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a canal that connects Lake Erie at Buffalo with the Hudson River in New York, and thus the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean.
Course
The canal branches off north of Albany, about 230 kilometers north of New York City at an elevation of 7 meters from the Hudson River from and follows the Mohawk River in a westerly direction as far as Rome, where it reaches a height of 130 m. After some descending locks follow to Syracuse, to the north of Seneca Lake (one of the Finger Lakes ), where a channel branches off to Lake Ontario and the lowest level of the central portion can be achieved with 116 m. From here the channel rises again to 154 m to ( at Rochester ). Here crossed the channel on an aqueduct ( which has now been converted to a road bridge ) the Genesee River and extends 103 km precisely along the Niagara Escarpment, to this in Lockport ( Niagara County) is defeated by five locks. Here is the final height is reached by 172 meters and continue for 48 km in the mouth of the Niagara River in Tonawanda (now a northern suburb of Buffalo ). He was present at its opening on October 26, 1825 584 km long, 12 meters wide and 1.2 meters deep.
History
The construction of the canal was already proposed in 1699. The governor of New York, DeWitt Clinton, initially earned only scorn for his vision of a channel ( Clinton's Moat ) was referred to as Clinton 's Ditch. President Thomas Jefferson wanted to provide for the construction of the canal, which he held for economically senseless, no federal funds. The channel connect to Jefferson only New York with the wilderness, and the sparsely populated areas of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Nevertheless, began in 1789, the Niagara Canal Company without government support with the planning of the building. The construction work began in 1817. The first part of the canal was completed in 1819 and the entire channel was opened on 26 October 1825. The Erie Canal reduced the cost of transport into the then largely untapped areas of the Great Lakes by up to 90 %. Thus, the settlement of this area was greatly accelerated and the Rise of New York began the most important port in the east coast.
Since the soils of New England and large parts of New York State are not very suitable for agriculture, the way to the valley of the Ohio River was only thanks to the open channel. Agriculture in the Midwest, so sell their products on the coast. There, trade, financial services and industry developed.
In the years 1905 to 1918 the canal was thoroughly modernized in some new location and event renamed the New York State Barge Canal. With a width of 40 meters ( locks 13 m ) and a depth of 3.7 meters, it was navigable for vessels up to 1800 tons. Following the commissioning of Wellandkanals its importance began to wane, especially as the channel (as well as the old ) in winter was not passable. Since the 1990s, it is primarily for recreational boating.
The unused portions of the old canal were many places left to sprawl. Meanwhile, however, some sections are through private initiatives and restored as recreation facilities, including of paddlers and cyclists used.
The Erie Canal was taken in 1967 by the American Society of Civil Engineers in the List of National Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks.
Film
- From New York to Niagara Falls. The Erie Canal. Documentation, 2005, 45 min, Director: Horst Cramer, Production: SWR, first broadcast 17 July 2005 Summary of the SWR