Industrial History

Saturday, January 17, 2026

North Tunnel, an 18' (5.5m) Storm Sewer in Ellicott City, MD

West Portal: (Satellite, many of these trees have been removed to make way for the construction.)

East Portal: (Satellite, the parking lot will be closed during construction.)

I know of Ellicott City because of the B&O Depot.

Ellicott City Safe and Sound posted

During the past year, drill and blast operations have progressed the mining shaft, drop shaft, and caverns below grade to facilitate assembly of ‘Rocky,’ our Tunnel Boring Machine. Blasting operations are expected to continue through the months of January and February, generally between the hours of 8 AM and 8 PM, Monday through Saturday. Residents in the vicinity of Ellicott City’s West End may detect the blasts, which typically last just a few seconds. No impact to vehicular traffic is anticipated.

The North Tunnel is a water conveyance project that, once complete, will carry flood waters from the West End of Ellicott City through an 18-foot-diameter tunnel to the Patapsco River. This project will reduce the risk of flash flooding by intercepting water from the western portions of town and diverting it underground and away from Main Street.

David Novak: Our tax dollars at work due to the overdevelopment above Ellicott City. Meanwhile the developers are laughing all the way to the bank. Thank you Ball, the county Council, and the planning board.

HowardCountyMD, cropped
Rocky will be boring through solid granite.

This is just one of several projects needed to deal with stormwater. It makes me glad that my local building codes require developers to include retention ponds or underground storage to handle storm surge.

Presentation, p2

Presentation, p12

"This crucial project was made possible through $27 million in state grants and $28.5 million in state loans." [TunnelingOnline]

I estimate the tunnel will be about a mile long. Since the TBM will dig itself out of a side of a cliff along the Patapsco River, will they be able to sell the TBM?

That raises the question, once the TBM head is out in the air, how do they push the rest of the 300' (91m) TBM out of the tunnel?

And that $50m state funding is just a third of the cost. At least it is a loan instead of a grant.

2:03 video @ 0:14
$75M federal loan to fund Ellicott City North Tunnel Project
[I skipped the rest of the video.]

It is interesting how they use heavy mats chained down to concrete anchors to contain the blast.

Ellicott City Safe and Sound posted 1:44 video

The transformational Ellicott City North Tunnel project is moving forward! Crews have completed site preparation and are now in the critical phase of rock blasting to create the mining shaft. This marks a giant leap in our efforts to significantly reduce flooding risks in Historic Ellicott City.

The North Tunnel will reroute floodwaters safely away from Main Street, protecting residents, businesses, and the community we love. Through this transformational project, we are continuing to build a safer Ellicott City.

Black River Canal Locks #7,#8,#9,#10,#11,#12,#13, especially #10 and #11

Lock #7 is under the Delta Dam and Locks #8-#12 are under the reservoir.

Lock #13: (Satellite)

Black River Overview

These locks were replaced by three locks on the east side of the Delta Dam.

JD Seymour posted seven photos with the comment: "The Black River House was located between locks 10 and 11 on the Black River Canal. The building sat just north of the bridge between the canal and road. Last fall Delta Lake was low enough to see this area, which has only happened a few times since 1912. After about a month the lake covered the area back up, for who knows how long. (there are still 2 more locks and an aqueduct further down under the water)"

The Delta Dam was built between 1909-11. I was able to find a topo map that is old enough to show the original canal. Note that the dam is named after the town that the reservoir engulfed.

1904/04 Boonville Quad @ 62,500

Black River Canal Five Combine Locks (#39,#40,#41,#42,#43) downstream from Pixley Falls, NY

(Satellite, "the barn sits a Lock #41." [map] I tried getting a better view with Google Earth, but I couldn't.)

Black River Overview

Cori Wilson posted
Black River Canal, Five Lock Combine, 10 years after abandonment. 1934

BlockRiverCanalMuseum (most of the links are broke)
The lock size was 15' x 90' with a typical lift of 10'.

dcmny

The barn at Lock #41 is prominent in this view.

mykayutalake

We can see the barn in this image. It is amazing how well the trees hide it in most of the other views.

Google Earth, Dec 2005

I would not be willing to fight the undergrowth to see the locks today.

There is supposed to be a trail on the towpath with a trailhead parking area. And pathways that provide clear views of the ruins. [grokipedia]

mykayutalake

This gorge was the "alpine" region of the canal, and these locks were built through shale bedrock. "Building this feature presented significant challenges, including the excavation of soft, brittle shale prone to sink holes and erosion, as well as mitigating risks from flash floods and landslides that threatened the towpath and canal prism." [grokipedia]

1904/04 Boonville Quad @ 62,500 via Dennis DeBruler

Friday, January 16, 2026

Erie Canal Lock #62 near Pittsford, NY

(Satellite)

Erie Canal Overview

The Great Embankment is about a mile east of here.

"The lift was 9.22 feet to the west." [ErieCanal]

Looking at the downstream side. In the center is the wall that expanded the south lock on the left to speed up the transit of 250-ton grain barges.

Thomas Griebel, Sep 2018

Thomas likes this view. I include this photo that was taken three years later because it is easier to see the outlet of a conduit in the central divider. And it shows how nature has progressed and the appearance of graffiti on the end of the wall.

Thomas Griebel, Sep 2021

A close up of the outlet.

ErieCanal

This is the upstream side. Note the three inlets to the conduit in the central divider. There was a flow in the canal to supply water to operate the locks. If the locks were not being used much, the water level in the canal would rise. When the water level reached the inlets, the excess water would overflow into the conduit and continue downstream.

Adam Rothman, Sep 2017

Back in 2017, they cleaned nature off the south lock. But the above photo shows that the north lock still had a lot of growth in it.

Debi Bower, Apr 2017

I think we are looking downstream in the north chamber.

mine big gut, Jun 2019

Unfortunately, preservation is now plagued by graffiti as well as nature.

Jules Hoepting, May 2025

Being treated as a garbage dump is not a new problem. Each winter when they drained the canal, they had to clean a lot of trash out of the prism.

Chris Hecht, Aug 2020

Back in 2008, the south chamber looked real good. The person gives an idea of the size of the lock.

ErieCanal

The pin shows where the Erie Canal turned north to go through Rochester, but the Barge Canal continued going West. Lock #62 is in the top center under the "Barnes & Noble" label whereas Barge Canal Lock #32 is at the bottom.

Satellite

Robert Corby posted

ERIE CANAL LOCK 62

The well preserved remains of this paired lock are located at the crest of the berm borderng the west side of the Pittsford Wegmans parking lot.

In the photo below, the small catwalk above the lock gates allowed the lock tender to move quickly back and forth across the lock chamber. Also visible are the large timber balance beams that provided leverage to allow manual operation of the lock gates. The turbulent state of the water indicates the lock chamber was being drained at the time of the photo.

Robert Corby shared

Dean Cady: Well doctored photo

Robert Corby: Dean Cady ?

[I deleted this comment because I realized that we are looking at the longer south chamber and the right chamber would not be visible.]

Dennis DeBruler: Robert Corby Judging from the angle of the gates and the flow of water, we are looking at the downstream side of the chamber. If we are looking at the south chamber, the photo is from the 19th Century before the south locks were doubled in size and there should be a north chamber on the right side. If we are looking at the north chamber, there should not be any land on the left side, but there should be land on the right side.

1841,1888 Enlarged Erie Canal Lock #28 (Yankee Hill) near Amsterdam, NY

(Satellite)

Erie Canal Overview

Barge Canal Lock #12 is just north of Fort Hunter; the Schoharie Creek Aqueduct is just west, and Enlarged Canal Lock #30 is in Fort Hunter.

Enlarged Canal Lock #29 is a little east of Fort Hunter. This lock is further east, almost to Amsterdam, NY.

The Canalway Trail - Erie Canal Trail just south of this lock is probably on the towpath of the Original Erie Canal.

This lock had a lift of 8'. [ErieCanal]

Given the angle of the gates, we are looking downstream. So we are looking East. That means the store was on the south side of the canal, where the tow path was. The recreated store is now on the north side.

ErieCanal
"Yankee Hill Lock [Lock 28], Erie Canal - date unknown, 1905? [CSNYS]"

And the south side of the canal is now a parking lot. (The store is out-of-frame to the left.)

Collin Simmons, Aug 2023

I think we are looking upstream (westbound) at the north lock.

Jimmy Gonzales posted
Town of Florida, NY

Walter J Eaker: Look how straight and flat lines of hand cut rock amazing work

Tricia Shaw: Walter J Eaker this lock was one of the last ones on the Canal to be built. The stones was not hand cut by then. This lock didn't open for navigation until 1856.

john, Aug 2025

At Google Maps resolution

This explains why only the southern (eastbound) lock was enlarged. It was to speed up the haulage of 250-ton grain barges.

Ateeq Ahmad, Sep 2020

Here we can see the notches for the gates in the original part of the south lock. I wonder why nature has grown on the original part, but not the enlarged part, of the lock.

Kathleen Johnson, Oct 2021

Here we see nature growing out of the sides of the enlarged part. So those vines evidently grew in just the three years since Kathleen took the above photo.