



LEVEL OF THE WATER WHEN THE LOCK /S FILLED 
LONGITUDINAL SECT/OCW 
CRIBBINC &MASONRY 
CRIBB/ING 


















LAIBBINCG 

Figure 3.—PLAN OF THE BEAR Trap Locks. To /ill the locks: close wickets at B; open wickets at A; water passes through 
sluices E and A into water chamber, then through sluice C underneath gates; gates elevated; water collects back of gates 
and forms pool upstream. To empty the locks: close wickets at A; open wickets at B; water passes from water chamber and 
under gates through sluices B and D; gates lowered; water passes over lowered gates carrying the boat downstream. 
Chute length-gate to downstream end: 68 feet. Chute length-gate to upstream end: 38 feet. Chute width: 17 feet. Gates 
length: 27 feet. Water chamber length: 33 feet. Water chamber width: 10 feet. (Richard Richardson, Memoir of Josiah 
White, 1873, pp. 128-129.) 
to accommodate a railroad; the rails could be placed 
when business would warrant this additional expense. 
This wagon road was the first in the Commonwealth 
ever laid out using surveying instruments and em- 
ployed the principle of spreading out the difference 
in elevation from the beginning to the end over the 
entire distance as evenly as the topography would 
permit. 
A drought occurred late in 1818 and the water level 
of the Lehigh River fell 12 inches below what, up to 
that time, had been considered the lowest water level. 
This required the storage of make-up water by con- 
structing additional dams near Mauch Chunk. Josiah 
White introduced a lock and dam with sluice gates to 
provide an adequate water level for the passage of the 
canalboats as required. The workmen on the naviga- 
PAPER 72: ANTHRACITE IN THE LEHIGH VALLEY 
tion called the locks the “Bear Trap,” to elude the curi- 
osity of persons who were inquiring about the purpose 
of their construction efforts. Twelve of these locks and 
dams were installed during 1818 and all proved to be 
workable. Josiah White obtained a patent for the de- 
sign of the locks on October 19, 1819.*° This new con- 
struction delayed the opening of the waterway as ad- 
ditional capital proved difficult to obtain. 
On March 7, 1820, Hazard and White bought out 
G. Hauto’s interests after some disagreement among 
them as to the conduct of the operations. The claims of 
Hauto against the company were not settled until 1830. 
The Lehigh Navigation and Coal Company was 
‘8 RIGHARDSON, op. cit., p. 58. Richardson cites December, 
but the U.S. Patent Office records indicate October 
95 
