Stop 3- The Limestone Creek Aqueduct: Crossing Water

GPS- 43.044080, -76.010702

So, now we have a ditch and water and a way to fill it...but what happens when you want to cross the canal over a large body of water? You build an aqueduct. Aqueducts have been around since ancient times. The word literally comes from the Latin meaning "to lead water" and an aqueduct "led" the water across the creek, keeping the waters separate.

Originally, the canal crossed Limestone Creek in a wooden trough that spanned the width of the width of the creek, supported by limestone upright pillars.

Today a much narrower channel of water flows across in a much smaller channel that is passable by by kayaks and canoes on the Rome Level section. It was constructed at the end of the Erie Canal for the Barge Canal...but more on that at another stop. 

Water from Limestone Creek was channeled under the aqueduct in a way that kept the creek from undermining the canal and its structures.

( A view looking upstream)

The marvelous stonework, almost 200 years old, is still a thing of beauty!

Details that not only helped lead the water in a more controlled manner under the canal trough, but added a beauty in craftsmanship still visible today.

In high water, the creek water would be slowed by this wall which would keep the creek from undermining the feeder, the footbridge, and the aqueduct

Without aqueducts, boats would be stuck in large size ponds! Aqueducts allowed for smooth crossing of creeks by packet boats. And so on the towpath, we head to our next stop...

Stop 2- The Fayetteville Feeder: Add Water

GPS- 43.044547, -76.010080

The basics of the canal was a ditch and water, but real life complicated things. While the Rome level was the first section of the canal to open in 1819, getting water to keep the ditch full was the challenge. Channels called feeders added water from many of the northward flowing creeks in the area to help keep water in the canal. Here in Fayetteville is one the best preserved feeders in the county. Water from Limestone creek is gently channeled into the old Erie Canal. And enters the canal just east of the bridge.

Water was channeled upstream from Limestone Creek. The water is a gentle flow. The last thing the canal builders and boat captains wanted was a current. Currents erode structures and make it harder for mules to pull the boats. Over the years the land has reclaimed the channel turning back into marshland where it meets the canal by the Limestone Aqueduct.

Today the Limestone Feeder no longer functions as it once did. It barely adds water during high water times. The feeder channel has slowly filled in and is just a remnant, like the original Clinton's Ditch channel, that gives clues as to what it took to keep the canal flowing.

While Clinton's Ditch, the original channel, was 4ft x 40ft per linear foot, the enlarged Erie was 7ft by 70ft. More than three times the water was needed after it was enlarged. Feeders were necessary to keep the the water levels up and the ditch filled as water levels could vary due to boats locking up or down and due to weather. 

The ditch could not run dry...unless a section was drained on purpose.

(A view of the Enlarged Erie section just west of Jordan)

In the winter, the canal would be drained back for maintenance. It was easier to work on frozen ground in an empty channel to fix berm walls and dig out built-up sediment and debris.

In the spring, these feeders would have their gates opened upstream and the canal section they were in charge of filling would slowly flood until the levels were raised to sufficient depth for traffic to resume. 

So as we head eastward with our mules, we will come quickly to our next stop...