Barge Canal Lock #28A and 1931 Lyons Dry Dock

Dry Dock: (Satellite)

Lock: (Satellite)

The lock on the left and the dry dock on the right.

Street View, Oct 2013

The lock on the left and the dry dock in the background.

Street View, Oct 2013

"Lift: 19.5 feet. Located alongside the lock, The Lyons Dry Dock is one of three NYS Canal Corporation dry docks. It has gates like those of a lock, boats float in and the water is drained out. At any given time, you can see work being done on tugboats, dredges, derrick boats, and many other vessels." [nycanalmap]

This is the primary maintenance facility for the New York State Canal System. In addition to repairing tugboats, etc., it provides winter storage.

Street View, Aug 2013

Over a decade later, it looks like the derrick barges haven't moved. It appears that these antiques are docked here.

Street View, Jun 2024

Indeed, those work boats are antiques.

hmdb
"The Lyons drydock, located just west of the village was the last drydock built on the New York State Canal System after nearly a century of improvements.

Drydocks like the one at Lyons were needed so that canal boats could be maintained and have a place to winter over. The original Barge Canal plan called for public drydocks at Schuylerville, Waterford, Little Falls, Baldwinsville, Rochester, and Lockport. Later, when the Baldwinsville site was dropped, the facility at Lyons was added.

The Lyons drydock was completed in 1931, with a storehouse and machine shop added the next year. Lyons became one of two principal drydock sites in the canal system (the other was Waterford).

Today, the Lyons shop repairs equipment still used on the canal. The drydock is used to berth tugs in the off season and stores Dipper Dredge No. 3, one of the original Barge Canal dredges."

Digitally Zoomed

Digitally Zoomed

whec 2:51 video
Inside the Erie Canal’s hidden dry dock: Keeping the 200-year-old waterway running

tug44

tug44, another of the many photos on this webpage

Jim DeNearing posted four photos with the comment: "A few pictures of the salvage operation in Lyons dry dock this morning [Jan 22, 2026]. The DB6 is being cut apart for scrap this week."

Dave Eldridge: It was a heavy lift 60 ton crane.

1, cropped

2, cropped

3, cropped

4, cropped

Gary Prodrick commented on Jim's post
Is this it?

Peter A. DeVito Jr.: Is this the DB that Bunky use to captain, back in the day???

Jim DeNearing: Peter A. DeVito Jr. Sad yes, but this one I can almost understand. The bottom of the barge was in terrible shape. The crane was years past inspection. It just wouldn't have made financial sense to try to fix it.

The real travisty is that there is nowhere designated to put these historic pieces on static display so that future generations can learn about how the canal was maintained after it was built. That's something that most people don't understand. They think that once the canal was opened, that was it. They don't even realize that it takes ongoing maintenance to keep it open.

Comments on Jim's post

I do hope they figure out how to make static displays of the work boats when they are retired.

Mark Jones posted
DB13  with breakdown scow  eastbound thru Hulberton in spring headed to rochester. About 15 yrs ago.

Dave Eldridge: There were many statewide, most of them if not all were freefall meaning no power down which is why they had clam buckets. But they did hook work from time to time.

Mark Jones: Ole 13 sure could lift , the bucket was good size. It sure mangled up submerged cars when we found them.

Dave Eldridge commented on Mark's post, cropped
I was the Captain on Db2a when n Lyons when i retired.

Matthew Rindfleisch posted three photos with the comment: "End of decades."

Robert Joseph Lewis: Its the hd3 from Utica. a hydraulic dredge that came to its end after hitting a bridge on its way to lyons drydock for repairs

Bob Thomes: Engine is a 8 cylinder De Lavergne Diesel Locomtove engine.

John Ruth: Bob Thomes There is a historic Baldwin Sharknose diesel which is out of storage with a broken crankshaft! Baldwin used DeLavergne pride movers!

The SMS railroad in southern NJ uses smaller Baldwin locomotives in everyday service.

This might be an opportunity to save "unobtainable" parts'

Mark Johncox: We are in negotiations with all parties involved to try an save the engine out of the dredge and move it to the NYSEA grounds.

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Mark Johncox commented on Matthew's post
We are in in negotiations at this time to try to preserve the engine and move it to our grounds in Canandaigua.

Alejandro Lopez commented on Matthew's post
That's me starting that engine when I was 17 [in the year 2000]