HYDROLOGY OF NEW YORK 



767 



ing from Whitehall to the Hudson river at Fort Edward, the 

 elevation of the water surface of the Hudson a few miles below 

 Fort Edward being somewhat less than the low-water elevation 

 of Lake Ohamplain. After reaching the Hudson the work would 

 include the deepening of that stream to deep water, a few miles 

 below Albany. Either of the foregoing projects would further 

 include the construction of a ship canal connecting Lakes Erie 

 and Ontario. 



The advantage of the St Lawrence-Champlain-Hudson over the 

 Oswego-Mohawk-Hudson route is that the lockage would be all in 

 one direction; that is, eastward-bound vessels would lock down all 

 the way from Lake Erie to New York. Its disadvantages are 

 increased length and the location of the canal connecting the 

 St Lawrence river with Lake Chainplain in Canadian territory. * 

 In regard to increased length, it is claimed that not much more 



Fig. 55 Earth section of deep waterways for 21-foot channel. 



time would be required in traversing it than would be consumed 

 in locking over the Oswego-Mohawk summit. 



As to the capacity of the proposed canal, the Deep Waterways 

 Commission points out in its report that such a canal, if built, 

 should be so carried out as to be adequate for vessels of the most 

 economical type, not only for coasting or domestic trade but also 

 for the foreign movement, so that commerce may be carried on 

 directly between lake ports and o flier domestic and foreign ports 

 without transshipment. Taking into account various other con- 

 ditions, the commission believes that the requirements of the pres- 

 ent demand a limiting draft in the proposed canal of 27 or 28 feet ; 

 hence, the commission recommends the securing of a channel of a 

 navigable depth of not less than 28 feet. 



The commission also says that, starting from the heads of Lakes 

 Michigan and Superior, the most eligible route for a deep waterway 

 is through the several Great Lakes and their intermediate chan- 

 nels and the proposed Niagara ship canal to Lake Ontario, and 

 that the Canadian seaboard may then be reached from Lake On- 



