Stop 23- Carpenter's Brook Waste Weir: Overflow

GPS-  43.075774, -76.424109

Now that we have passed the halfway point, 

no matter which version of the canal you are on, we continue down the Towpath.

As you glance at the water-filled ditch, 

there might be a lingering question somewhere in the back of your mind.

If feeders add water to the canal when there isn't enough water,

what do you do if there is too much?

Enter, or should I say, exit (via) the Waste Weir!

More about its specs here:

So first off, who was Carpenter?...the second settler of Elbridge...

he ran a tavern by a brook that would later be named for him...our ancestors were quite clever in their naming 😉

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52596049/moses-carpenter?fbclid=IwAR3KVsdQm7MzQbMvq7tqhayWH-oLKX6WaBbkyZLhqBmotX3rlHADsb0Yi0E

Today while there is no longer a tavern nearby , there a plenty of fish to tell tales of at a tavern

https://fishonondagacounty.com/index.php/about-the-fishing/bodies-of-water/carpenters-brook/?fbclid=IwAR0pn77YtKGaAJpk_vedZs1SoB9NVn-b2gwrc_XCfLjtCpEWdX-nsEjtJ0A

So we know that a canal is, in its basic form, a ditch with water. Then you need to add water by means of feeders. You need aqueducts to carry the canal over streams and creeks. Culverts to divert unneeded water. And you need locks to lift or lower the boat as needed in the elevation change. 

But what are waste weirs? Overflow protection! 

It's not nice to flood the neighbors!

About waste weirs:

https://www.eriecanal.org/UnionCollege/The_Waste_Weir.html?fbclid=IwAR3AJ7YSH-vbJ0IwsGW-t8cQ30vkka6XMzbC4g29Ej34b6ip7guyZAw6Ir8#:~:text=Waste%20weirs%20were%20often%20located,a%20towpath%20running%20above%20it

Here is a picture of the Carpenter's Brook Waste Weir 

during canal days

All of the trees today along the towpath, and in the canal have grown up 

since the canal was abandoned. 

Maintenance workers working in this section would 

never have allowed trees to grow up along the canal and its prism. 

Tree roots would have undermined canal structures,

 risking canal wall breaches and canal structure failures.

In the winter, the canal would be drained back for maintenance.

Work was easier on the frozen ground. 

Debris would be cleared and repairs made.

And then refilled in the spring, using feeders. 

Here is a view of the north wall and support structures of the 

waste weir.

A video of another waste weir still extant, this one on the Long Level near Rome

by Historic Erie 350

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBKuf8PlYFA

If water levels got too high due to rain, 

the run off could harmlessly drain into the creek or brook below

Waste weirs channeled the water carefully down a stone channel 

to prevent overflowing water from eroding the canal prism and structures

Then the water entered the creek where 

it could flow downstream away from canal structures to the river

Water from the Carpenter's Brook was also diverted originally in a culvert under the canal...part of that remains today as the opening in the center under the towpath

But as the canal went from 4 ft/40 ft to 7ft/70ft, the need for water tripled. The Jordan Level, being basically a giant swimming pool on a plateau from Lock 50- 51, suddenly needed even more water to fill it...enter another feeder...the Carpenter's Brook Feeder. 

Located just east of here on private land, this feeder helped maintain water levels by taking water from upstream and filling the canal as necessary.

The Carpenter's Brook Feeder is visible 

just east of the waste weir on these maps

Some pics of the Carpenter's Brook Feeder, 

which is on private land today.

pic by Ted Olsen

So in the end, there was a way to add water, 

subtract water and divert water all in the same area!

As it has been a dry summer in our imaginary journey, the feeder, not the waste weir, 

has been more essential in helping keep the water levels navigable in the Jordan Level 

on our imaginary summer trip on our packet boat. 

And as our mules cross this Waste Weir, 

we know the next town is not far off now,...

We head on 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...