Table of Contents
Why did engineers have to use locks on the Erie Canal?
The Erie required 83 locks, each made of stone, to move boats up and down the natural elevations. The locks were designed so that each needed only one person for its operation. The canal also required the construction of 18 aqueducts to carry the canal over bodies of water.
Did the Erie Canal use locks?
Locks on the Erie Canal. The present Erie Canal rises 566 feet from the Hudson River to Lake Erie through 35 locks. The original “Clinton’s Ditch” Erie Canal had 83 locks. The Enlarged Erie Canal, built between 1835 and 1862, saw this number reduced to 72 locks.
What are locks and how did they work on the Erie Canal?
Erie Canal locks consist of two sets of Miter-V gates to form the chamber and contain the water , underground tunnels for the water to flow in or out and tunnel valves (they resemble guillotines) to open or shut the water flow through the tunnels.
Why did engineers build the Erie Canal?
The Idea for the Canal It all started with the notion to offer a quicker and safer way to move goods by building a canal to connect the Hudson River to Lake Erie. While a passage like this made sense to some, not everyone was on board with the idea.
What did canal locks influence?
The canal lock was developed in China, and first used in Europe during the Middle Ages. Locks enable ships to go from one water level to another, thus making many more transportation routes possible.
Why was the Erie Canal important?
The Erie Canal provided a direct water route from New York City to the Midwest, triggering large-scale commercial and agricultural development—as well as immigration—to the sparsely populated frontiers of western New York, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and points farther west.
How did old canal locks work?
A weir or barrage would be built across the river with an opening in the middle, usually kept shut with a gate. When a boat wanted to pass downstream, the flash lock would be opened, and the boat would be carried through the gap and over the weir with the sudden rush of water.
Why was the Erie Canal so important?
Who was the engineer of the Erie Canal?
Benjamin Wright
Benjamin Wright, (born October 10, 1770, Wethersfield, Connecticut [U.S.]—died August 24, 1842, New York, New York), American engineer who directed the construction of the Erie Canal. Because he trained so many engineers on that project, Wright has been called the “father of American engineering.”
Why are canal locks necessary?
The canal needs locks in order to raise ships high enough to cross the Continental Divide. In other words, even if sea levels were exactly the same on the Atlantic and Pacific sides, the Panama Canal would still need locks.