Aqueduct: (
HAER;
Satellite; Marker:
Satellite)
Lock #21: (
Satellite)
This Upper Mohawk River Aqueduct and the
Lower River Aqueduct at Crescent, NY, were built to avoid steep, rocky terrain on the south side of the river. "All the stones
removed from the Rexford Aqueduct are available for
use if it is ever to be restored." [
HAER_data]
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Matt Korona posted
More of the Rexford Erie Canal aqueduct but in color |
Is this a different colorization or a different exposure of the same colorization?
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| Chester Hartwell commented on Matt's post |
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Matt Korona posted
Rexford Ny Erie Canal aqueduct crossing over the Mohawk river early 1900s
Dave Hyde: LOCK 21.... |
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Keith Briggs commented on Matt's post
These days the lock is used by the yacht club there as a slipway for hauling out boats with a travel lift. |
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Postcard via ErieCanal_aqueducts
"'Where the Erie Canal crosses Mohawk River near Schenectady, N.Y.' (no publisher information) -- Postcard (UNDB) ; not postmarked ; approximately 1906? [CSNYS]" |
This view shows a predecessor truss bridge for the road.
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Postcard via ErieCanal_aqueducts
"'The Canal Aqueduct and Bridge crossing the Mohawk River near Schenectady, N.Y.' (No. 11634 - J.J. Cunningham, Schenectady, N.Y.) -- Postcard, postmarked Aug. 16, 1907. -- This is the upriver side ; the piers on the aqueduct and parallel bridge are angled to fend off floating objects and ice." |
The wooden trough that carried the water is gone. See
Nine-Mile Creek Aqueduct for a restored aqueduct of similar design. This is the east (north) end.
A couple of arches on the west (south) end are also extant. But the truss bridge is gone.
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HAER NY,46-REXFO,1--4
4. View of piers, trunk bed and towpath arch from southeast - Erie Canal (Enlarged), Upper Mohawk River Aqueduct, Mohawk River, State Route 146, Rexford, Saratoga County, NY |
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Erie Canal posted
Rexford Aqueduct remains and the former Rt 146 Bridge across the Mohawk River. |
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| 1893/93 Schenectady Quad @ 62,500 |
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HAER NY,46-REXFO,1--5
5. Photocopy of map of the Erie Canal Upper Mohawk River Aqueduct at Rexford, 1834. From Holmes Hutchinson Manuscript, vol. 10, pl. 21 in the New York State Library - Erie Canal (Enlarged), Upper Mohawk River Aqueduct, Mohawk River, State Route 146, Rexford, Saratoga County, NY |
Lock #22
This also shows the old truss road bridge.
Lock #21
We can barely see a boat in Lock #22 which is on the left side of the above photo.
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| Digitally Zoomed |
Crossover (Change) Bridge
Cori Wilson
posted eight images with the comment:
Why the “Change Bridge”?
All ordinary bridges over the canal simply let road traffic or people change from one bank to the other.
A Change Bridge (also called a towpath crossover or turnover bridge) was something far more specialized: it was built exactly where the mule- or horse-drawn towpath itself switched from one side of the canal to the opposite bank.
At Rexford, this switch occurred just east of Lock 21 — clearly labeled “Lock 21” on the 1890s George L. Schillner Enlarged Erie Canal map. The location was chosen so the towpath would be perfectly aligned for boats approaching the Rexford Aqueduct over the Mohawk River.
After passing the dramatic cliffs (bluffs) east of Rexford — the very scene shown in this beautiful “Bluffs on Erie Canal near Schenectady, N.Y.” The towpath switched back to the north side of the canal, the bank it followed for most of its 363-mile length.
The elegantly angled iron truss allowed the hitched mule team to walk straight across the bridge without stopping. The long tow rope slid smoothly underneath without tangling, keeping the canal boat moving in one uninterrupted flow.
This made Rexford Flats one of the most scenic and engineering-rich highlights of the Enlarged Erie Canal: boats switched towpath sides at the Change Bridge, rose through Locks 21and 22, then glided across the magnificent 14-arch stone aqueduct spanning the Mohawk into Niskayuna.
Today, the stone chambers of Lock 21 survive on the grounds of the Schenectady Yacht Club (now used as boat slips), and several massive arches of the Rexford Aqueduct still stand along the riverbank, marked with historic plaques.
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6
[Also Lock #21 beyond the bridge in the lower-right corner.] |
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7
[Also Lock #21 and the aqueduct. Lock #22 is behind the trees to the right of the middle of the photo.]
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