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boatingonthehudson.com
The Nine Mile Creek Aqueduct as viewed from the side, showing the wooden chamber that holds the water of the old canal as it crosses the
creek. This entire project was done by volunteer canal enthusiasts, and shows how 19th Century engineers handled the problem of taking
the original canal across untamed natural waterways, much as a bridge safely carries cars and trucks across bodies of water today.
throughout the state were complete, transportation of
people, products and raw materials was far speedier and
more efficient than ever before, truly making New York the
Empire State for the past two centuries.
In late September 2017, the World Canals Conference
came to Syracuse, NY with nearly five days of seminars,
information sessions, exciting field trips and some big
news regarding the future of our venerable canal system.
It was a fitting location for this worldwide celebration of
inland waterway travel, coinciding with the 200th anniversary
(1817-2017) of the start of construction of the original Erie Canal.
Held at the historic Hotel Syracuse (now called the Marriott
Syracuse Downtown), the conference organizers arranged for
an ambitious tour schedule that really amounted to an in-depth
mini-course on the history of the Erie Canal, its various iterations
(1820s, 1840s, 1880s, and 1910s) and the many innovations
utilized by 19th and early 20th Century designers to create what
is still one of the world’s most marvelous waterborne inland