Afloat on the Erie Canal: Sonar Gear, Ferris Wheel Parts and Beer Tanks

[elleng]

WATERFORD, N.Y. — It has been 200 years since a corps of men and mules started to dig what was known as “Clinton’s ditch” across hundreds of miles of farmland, forests and other decidedly dry terrain in upstate New York, creating the Erie Canal and, with it, a range of prosperous towns from Albany to Buffalo.

The canal’s heyday has long passed, and in recent decades it has been relegated as a recreational byway, drawing pleasure boats, fishing lines and the occasional canal fan.

Lately, however, there has been a curious sight along the Erie Canal and some of its offshoots: commercial shipping — a small rebound pegged to the canal’s use as a niche waterway for cargo whose size or weight make it impossible, impractical or too expensive to haul any other way. All told, the state anticipates more than 200,000 tons of shipping on the canal system in 2017, a milestone not reached since 1993, according to state officials. Still, that is a far cry from the millions of tons of cargo the canal regularly trafficked during the 19th and early 20th centuries.'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/28/nyregion/erie-canal-rebound-commercial-shipping.html?

[MyOwnPeace]

1. I got a mule,

her name is Sal,.................

Great article, thank you!

[elleng]

2. Thanks for the reminder!

[amerikat]

3. Happy it is getting some use.

I live near the Champlain Canal which hooks up with the Erie near Albany. It's an amazing system.
I often go to lock 5 just to watch the boats come and go. They are mostly pleasure craft these days but It
was recently used for the Hudson River clean up project (dredging PCB's from the river).

I've seen sections of the Erie Canal. I wish they would restore all of it. It's cheap mode of transport.
It was a crazy idea at the time to dig by hand nearly 400 miles of canal. In my opinion it was instrumental
in making NY the Empire State. The canal started being profitable even before it was finished. I often refer to it
when people say Govt. can't do anything right.

Thanks for posting this article.

[elleng]

4. and thanks for your experience!

Kind of wish I'd lived near it! The song, I remember!

[amerikat]

5. Here is the Springsteen version.

The original song said 15 years on the Erie Canal.

[elleng]

6. Thanks!

[amerikat]

8. Posted the link

Not showing up. I'll try again.

[amerikat]

7. Sang that song in grammar school

50 years ago.