788 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



The investigation of the routes for a waterway between Lake 

 Erie and Lake Ontario indicates that the Lasalle-Lewiston line 

 can be constructed at less cost than the others, and can be tra- 

 versed by a type carrier between points common to all the routes 

 in less time than by the other routes. 



The natural harbor at the mouth of the Niagara river and the 

 comparatively small amount of restricted channel on the Lewiston 

 line make it a better location on which to construct a waterway 

 than the route from Tonawanda to Olcott. 



The route from Lake Ontario to New York is 208 miles farther 

 by the St Lawrence, Lake Champlain and the Hudson river than 

 by the Oswego, Mohawk and Hudson rivers, but has 292 feet less 

 lockage than the Mohawk low level and 366 feet less lockage than 

 the Mohawk high level routes. 



The length of standard canal prism is practically the same by 

 each route, the difference in distance being almost entirely in the 

 open lake and river portions of the waterway. 



The sailing time for a type carrier is twelve hours longer by the 

 Champlain route than by the Mohawk route, which difference is 

 due to the greater time required to sail 208 miles farther by the 

 former than to make eighteen more lockages on the latter. 



The comparative values of the two routes depend largely upon 

 the cost to construct and maintain the respective channels, the 

 annual traffic capacity of each, and the time required for type 

 carriers to make round trips. 



The estimated cost of the 21-foot waterway and the sailing 

 times between terminals are based on locks 600 feet long and 60 

 feet wide. If the locks should be made 80 feet wide for the pur- 

 pose of passing large ships from the lake shipyards to the Atlantic, 

 the estimated cost of the Mohawk route would be increased 

 14,221,000 and the Champlain route $2,560,000, the annual ca- 

 pacity of the routes slightly diminished, and the time required 

 for making round trips increased. 



Summit level water supply. The following in regard to summit 

 level water supply for a 30-fdot channel is from the report to the 

 Board of Engineers : 



The proposed summit level of the Oswego-Mohawk route, with 

 water-surface elevation of 416 feet above tide, extends a distance 



