Erie Canal.......yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NEW YORK TO GREAT LAKES & GREAT LAKES UPDATES 22 November 2011 NY Canal System - Erie Canal, on scene observation Reported By: WG Staff Many thanks to Fred Wehner of Tug44 for this very informative report. Sunday I took a car tour thru the wrecked area of the Erie Canal and was amazed by what I saw. All the dams where the ribs were bent or sprung have been fixed, not just jury-rigged as I expected, but new ribs are already in place. Sighting down the line of each of them, they're all straight now and they are working as designed. The moveable steel plates that hold the water back are once again suspended from the chains so the dams are fully functional. The locks are all working already, and traffic is moving down the canal as before. The grounds of most of those locks are ruined, but the locks are working. It all looks bad still, there are huge piles of logs and debris, some piled 50 feet high, covering much of the lock grounds. Most guard rails are torn away, including many at the tops of dams, and temporarily replaced with construction netting. Several Lock Operators offices and other buildings were destroyed, but replaced with temporary structures. Overnighting at some locks may be restricted in the spring, but there is a good chance that they will be available by then. Some locks had new river channels gouged out thru their parking lots, making them into islands .. those now have causeways built to access them. All the fill and buildings and cars and trucks that were washed away all went into the river, and major dredging operations are already in progress. All floating debris is already removed from the river, in fact it's now cleaner than normal. Local marinas are also all in good shape now. At Lock E-11, the beautiful historic William Johnson house (1742) looked close to collapse last month, but it has already been reframed and much new concrete for foundations has already been poured, and the original stones from the walls have been collected and it will be rebuilt shortly. There's still a lot of work to be done, mostly cosmetic, plus a few thousand more truck loads of fill are needed, but there is now no question that the Erie Canal will be open normally in the spring. This is an extremely impressive performance by the new Canal Corp management, and employees and contractors. These guys really know what they are doing, and no wonder they all look tired when I see them lately! It is now safe to plan your canal trip shortly after the May 1st opening. Fred Tug 44 Click here to comment on this Navigation Update