Saturday, December 6, 2025

Barge Canal Lock #8 near Schenectady, NY

(Satellite)


Enlarged Erie Canal Lock #23 is about a half-mile downstream from here.

uriel zefer, Nov 2017

I did not crop off the foreground because I had to keep the watermark.
George Argondizza, Aug 2023

Are some logs stuck against the gates and that is what is causing the distorted flow?
Sephen P, Sep 2023

I think this is the first time I've seen the gates raised up to allow the river to flow freely in the Winter.
Tom Friend, Jan 2022

nycanalmap

hmdb, cropped, May 2025 photo by Steve Stoessel
Original Erie Canal locks measured 90 feet long and 15 foot wide to fit canal boats around 60 feet long and seven feet wide. When New York State began building the expanded Barge Canal, new locks measured more than 320 feet long and 45 feet wide with a depth of 12 feet of water to accommodate boats up to 300 feet long.
Locks E8 through E15, along the Mohawk River, featured a dam based on a design found on the Moldau, the Czech Republic's longest river. Here at Lock 8, construction of the three-span movable dam began in 1908. At 510 feet wide, it can raise and lower boats by as much as 15 feet, when activated.
People often mistake the dam for a bridge, but the walkway you see is strictly used for maintenance. Beneath the dam's trusses are steel frames holding giant steel plates. Below the surface, stretching the full width of the river floor is a concrete sill. When the frames are swung open and lowered by chains to sit on the sill, they form a dam.

hmdb, Mar 2019 photo by Steve Stoessel
Work began here in Rotterdam in 1908 on Erie Barge Canal Lock 8. In addition to constructing Lock 8, engineers built a three-span moveable dam (about 510 feet wide) that raises boats heading upstream as much as 15 feet when the dam is activated. Many people mistake the dam for a bridge, (which it is not) but a walkway that allows for necessary maintenance. Beneath the dam's trusses are steel frames each containing a giant steel plate. Below the dam's base, a concrete sill constructed on the river bed spans the river's width. When these frames are swung open and lowered by chains onto the sill, they form a dam. Dam gates can be adjusted up or down almost like window shades, to control the volume of water and its rate of flow. Raising or lowering the dam must be carefully coordinated with the lock operators downstream to prevent the release of too much water which might flood the river bank banks. Therefore, lock gates downstream must all be raised or lowered accordingly
During the winter when the Canal is not operational, the dam's steel structures are lifted completely clear of the water allowing the river to resume its natural flow.

hmdb, Aug 30, 2011, photo by Howard C. Ohlhous
Lock E8 is seen here, with some damage, in August of 2011 after flooding due to Hurricane Irene.
[There was damage because they did not have enough time to raise the gates to pass the 12" rain in the area. It looks like they got them up by the time this photo was taken.]

I was shocked when I saw this photo.
Michael Clark, Feb 2018

When I saw this photo, I realized that the crane is probably on the end of a boat ramp. 
C K, Mar 2018

This photo shows that the ice flows pushed up and around the crane during the winter months. I tried googling what construction was happening in 2016 and 2018, but I didn't find any useful results.
Andrew Nold, Sep 2016

Enlarged Erie Canal Lock #23 near Schenectady, NY

(Satellite)

Erie Canal Overview

This lock replaced Lock #26 on the original Erie Canal.
Barge Canal Lock #8 is about a half-mile upstream from here.
 
Paul Fishman posted three photos with the comment: "Lock 23 of the Enlarged Erie Canal. The lock was built in 1841 and used until 1918. Rotterdam, Schenectady County. 11/26"
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Bob Stern posted three photos with the comment: "Lock 23 of the enlarged canal, off the Erie Canal Bikeway near the current Lock 8 of the Barge Canal Rotterdam NY."
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1941 photo by John Collier via hmdb_removed

hmdb, Apr 5, 2016, photo by Howard C. Ohlhous
About 3000 feet from modern Lock 8 is Lock 23, built in 1841 during the enlargement of the Erie Canal (1836-1862). It replaced original Erie Canal Lock 26.
Enlarging the canal became imperative by the mid-1830's after user demand outstripped the capacity of the first Erie Canal. The Enlarged Erie Canal deepened the canal prism from four to seven feet and widened it from forty to seventy feet for accommodating larger and heavier barges. Single-chambered locks were replaced by double-chambered locks allowing barges to pass in the either direction at the same time. One of the two locks here was lengthened again in 1889 to provide greater capacity, although by then the Canal was losing customers and volume to a railroad system that had been expanding since the Civil War.
Today, Lock 23 is a relic, replaced in 1918 by Lock 8 of the modern Erie Canal which employed the current technology of the early 20th century: electricified locks, steel lock gates and a 12-foot deep prism servicing mechanized barges of up to 3000 tons.

hmdb, Apr 5, 2016, photo by Howard C. Ohlhous
The Enlarged Lock 23 Marker stands beside the Mohawk Hudson Bike-Hike Trail, and just beyond is the remains of Lock 23. Between 2000 and 2003 students and staff of the Department of Civil Engineering at Union College in Schenectady, working with the Town of Rotterdam, built the replica board-and-batten Lock Tender's Hut and a Wooden Pier at Lock 23.

hmdb, Apr 5, 2016, photo by Howard C. Ohlhous
View of the west lock chamber, looking south.

hmdb, Feb 17, 2007, photo by Howard C. Ohlhous
View of the east lock chamber, looking north.

ErieCanal via hmdb
The inset image on the marker is an engineering drawing for a double lock pier. The pier is essentially a wooden crib filled with loose stone, designed to protect the upper end of the lock from damage that might be caused as a result of being stuck by a loaded canal boat. The opening in the pier that appears similar to a "window", seen on the right of the pier in the drawing, is intended to allow water to pass through as a means of regulating and maintaining the water level in the canal above the lock. The tapered shape of the pier helped to guide and funnel canal boats into the lock.

The top of the wooden pier is on the left, and the tender's hut is on the right.
Street View, Jul 2025

Friday, December 5, 2025

Aban/Pennsy/WB&T Top Mill & Mount Wood Tunnels and Bridge over Wheeling Creek in Wheeling, WV

Top Mill, North Portal: (Satellite)
Top Mill, South Portal: (Satellite)
Mount Wood, North Portal: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge HunterSatellite)
Mount Wood, South Portal: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge HunterSatellite)

WB&T = Wheeling Bridge & Terminal Railway [ArchivedBridgeHunter_bridge]

The route was built in 1888 and abandoned in 1982. [Archived Bridge Hunter County Index]

The bridge that was the namesake for the WB&T was probably the one over the Ohio River, not this one.
1956/58 Wheeling Quad @ 24,000

The 1994 topo map shows that the route was abandoned, but the Ohio River Bridge was still standing.
1994/98 Wheeling quad @ 24,000

But a 1994 satellite image shows the Ohio River Bridge is gone. I've noticed a trend that topo maps are quicker to add new things than to remove old things.
Google Earth, Mar 1994

Dave Kuntz Drone Photos posted photos with the comment: "The ground around the Mount Wood Tunnel in Wheeling WV is also being raised, hence you can look down on it from the landfill that will someday bury it."
[I presume this is the north portal because I can't imagine them building a landfill on McColloch Street. It appears they are filling the valley between Top Hill and Mount Wood with trash. Even though there was a ceiling collapse in the middle of this tunnel, people were talking about the WB&T becoming the Wheeling Heritage Trail. If they are covering the tunnel portal with trash, I presume they gave up on the trail.]
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The south portal of the Mount Wood Tunnel connects with the north end of the bridge.
2009 photo by Joshua Collins via BridgeHunter_mount_wood_south_portal

The south portal is in the trees on the left.
Street View, Jul 2019

Dave Kuntz Drone Photos posted five photos with the comment: "Look carefully - there is a tunnel at the edge of this bridge.  This structure in Wheeling WV goes straight into the Mount Wood tunnel in the left of the second photo but is so overgrown it can barely be seen."
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For the Mount Wood Tunnel, BridgeHunter_north_portal specifies a length of 537' (164m), but BridgeHunter_south_portal specifies 1203' (367m). I included the scale in this map excerpt that has all four tunnel portals labelled. The 1203' length looks more correct. Actually, 537' is probably the length of the Top Mill Tunnel.
Satellite

Photo via Bridge & Tunnels and BridgeHunter_mount_wood_north_portal
B&T specifies lengths of 1,226' and 587' with a reference to a plaque.

SteamPhotos has lengths of 1203' and 587'.

1924-2014 Aban/US-66 over Gasconnade River near Hazlegreen, MO

(Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Street View, Nov 2021

1950s postcard via BridgeHunter

missouri66
It closed to all traffic in 2014, including pedestrian. They are now trying to raise money to rehabilitate the bridge.

2008 photo by David Backlin via BridgeHunter

Doug Marker posted, cropped
No access. No trespassing.
Matter of fact, don’t even breathe on it!
Still, I’m glad we stopped to see the Gasconnade River Bridge.

John Qualley commented on Doug's post
2020...

Heather Michelle Lee commented on Doug's post
We took some drone photos this fall!

David Stegall commented on Doug's post
I walked it in September 15th 2023 with Cody Callahan and it was definitely sketch then.

Suzie Horton commented on Doug's post, cropped
We drove across it in 2013.

1850-late 1800s Erie and Champlain Canals Weight-Lock in Watervliet (West Troy), NY

(Satellite)


This lock is downstream of where the Champlain Canal joined the Original and the Enlarged Erie Canals so that it could serve both canals.

Syracuse has preserved its weight-lock and turned it into a museum.

Joel Torres posted five photos with the comment: 
Visited the remains of the Watervliet Weight-Lock also known as The West Troy Weighlock.
It operated until 1915.
Tom Page: I believe there were originally five weighlocks on the Erie Canal: Albany/Watervliet, Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo.
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[They left out the step that the lock has to be drained before it can be weighed.]

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Hudson River Lightkeeper commented on Joel's post

Hudson River Lightkeeper commented on Joel's post

Steven Duuck commented on Joel's post
Area around Weigh Lock Watervliet
[Now I understand what the "cutoff" canal was. Note that they could go to the Hudson River only after they paid their tolls.]