﻿740 
  

  

  NKW 
  VOKK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  1, 
  1896, 
  and 
  soon 
  after 
  work 
  was 
  begun 
  and 
  continued 
  until 
  

   May 
  5, 
  1897, 
  when 
  navigation 
  was 
  opened 
  for 
  the 
  season 
  of 
  1897, 
  

   and 
  all 
  contractors 
  not 
  working 
  with 
  dredges 
  discontinued 
  

   operations 
  until 
  the 
  winter 
  of 
  1897-98. 
  The 
  act 
  authorizing 
  the 
  

   1895 
  improvement 
  provided 
  that 
  the 
  deepening 
  of 
  the 
  canal 
  prism 
  

   might 
  be 
  accomplished 
  either 
  by 
  excavation 
  or 
  by 
  raising 
  the 
  side 
  

   walls. 
  Sometimes 
  one 
  method 
  and 
  sometimes 
  the 
  other 
  has 
  been 
  

   followed, 
  depending 
  upon 
  the 
  conditions 
  of 
  each 
  level. 
  Usually 
  

   a 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  increased 
  depth 
  has 
  been 
  obtained 
  by 
  raising 
  the 
  

   side 
  walls, 
  with 
  the 
  balance 
  secured 
  by 
  excavation. 
  

  

  As 
  is 
  indicated 
  in 
  the 
  extract 
  from 
  the 
  act 
  authorizing 
  the 
  

   improvement, 
  the 
  work 
  included 
  the 
  lengthening 
  of 
  such 
  locks 
  as 
  

   had 
  not 
  been 
  previously 
  lengthened. 
  The 
  original 
  locks 
  of 
  the 
  

   enlargement 
  of 
  1836 
  to 
  1862 
  were 
  110 
  feet 
  long 
  by 
  18 
  feet 
  wide. 
  

   In 
  1885 
  work 
  was 
  begun 
  lengthening 
  these 
  locks 
  to 
  220 
  feet, 
  or 
  

   about 
  210 
  feet 
  in 
  the 
  clear, 
  thus 
  permitting 
  two 
  boats 
  to 
  pass 
  

   through 
  at 
  one 
  lockage. 
  Up 
  to 
  1895, 
  42 
  of 
  the 
  72 
  original 
  locks 
  

   had 
  been 
  lengthened. 
  The 
  30 
  locks 
  remaining 
  to 
  be 
  dealt 
  with 
  

   were 
  mostly 
  bunched 
  in 
  groups 
  or 
  flights, 
  as, 
  for 
  instance, 
  at 
  

   Oohoes, 
  where 
  16 
  locks 
  effect 
  a 
  change 
  of 
  level 
  of 
  140 
  feet, 
  and 
  

   at 
  Lockport, 
  where 
  5 
  locks 
  effect 
  a 
  change 
  of 
  58 
  feet. 
  In 
  order 
  

   to 
  lengthen 
  locks 
  built 
  in 
  flights 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  necessary 
  to 
  entirely 
  

   reconstruct 
  them, 
  and 
  as 
  the 
  restricted 
  space, 
  specially 
  at 
  Lock- 
  

   port, 
  would 
  render 
  this 
  a 
  very 
  difficult 
  thing 
  to 
  do 
  in 
  one 
  winter 
  

   season, 
  it 
  was 
  therefore 
  proposed 
  to 
  construct 
  at 
  Cohoes 
  and 
  

   Lockport, 
  and 
  possibly 
  at 
  Newark, 
  vertical 
  lift 
  locks 
  to 
  take 
  the 
  

   place 
  of 
  the 
  ordinary 
  locks 
  in 
  use 
  at 
  these 
  places. 
  The 
  State 
  

   Engineer 
  and 
  Surveyor 
  completed 
  the 
  plans 
  for 
  the 
  proposed 
  

   lift 
  lock 
  at 
  Lockport, 
  which 
  was 
  so 
  located 
  as 
  not 
  to 
  interfere 
  

   with 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  locks 
  now 
  in 
  place 
  there 
  during 
  its 
  construc- 
  

   tion. 
  

  

  It 
  was 
  announced 
  late 
  in 
  1897 
  that 
  the 
  $9,000,000 
  appro- 
  

   priated 
  would 
  fall 
  about 
  $7,000,000 
  short 
  of 
  completing 
  the 
  work 
  

   of 
  deepening 
  and 
  lengthening 
  on 
  the 
  lines 
  thus 
  far 
  carried 
  out. 
  1 
  

  

  ^or 
  engineering 
  and 
  other 
  details 
  of 
  the 
  canal 
  improvement 
  of 
  1895 
  see 
  

   Eng. 
  News, 
  Vol. 
  XXXVIII 
  (Sept. 
  2, 
  16, 
  and 
  23, 
  1897). 
  See 
  also 
  Effect 
  of 
  

   Depth 
  upon 
  Artificial 
  Waterways, 
  by 
  Thomas 
  C. 
  Clark: 
  Trans. 
  Am. 
  Soc. 
  

   Civil 
  Eng., 
  Vol. 
  XXXV, 
  pp. 
  1-40. 
  Also 
  Eng. 
  News, 
  January 
  6, 
  1898, 
  for 
  

   discussion 
  of 
  the 
  question, 
  What 
  Shall 
  New 
  York 
  Do 
  with 
  Its 
  Canals? 
  

  

  