The Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal, more commonly called the Delaware Canal, runs along 60 miles (97 km) parallel to the right bank of the Delaware River from a key entrance near the Lehigh River estuary and end of Lehigh Canal terminal in South Easton to Bristol. At Easton, which is now home to the National Canal Museum, the Delaware Canal is also connected to Canal Morris built to bring anthracite coal to the energy-deficient New Jersey industry. Then, with key-intersections built in New Hope, the New Hope 'key outlet' (1847) is connected by Cable Ferry to a navigation/channel feeder on Bull Island across from the opposite shore of Lumberville, which ran over 22 miles (35 km)) south along the left bank via Trenton to Bordentown, the western end of the Delaware Canal and Raritan (1834) to New York City via New Brunswick. as part of a solution to the first energy crisis in the United States. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania builds the Delaware canal to feed anthracite stones to energy-hungry Philadelphia as part of a planned transport infrastructure development known as the Main Line of Public Works - a legislative initiative that creates a collection of self-reinforcing internal improvements to commercial transportability.
The Delaware Channel, such as the Lehigh Canal, is primarily intended to carry the day's "fuel of choice", anthracite coal, and other bulk items such as pebbles and limestone, cement, and wood - from northeastern Pennsylvania to Philadelphia. In the reverse flow, two canals carry manufactured goods, iron products and (decades later) steel products to the northeastern cities. Delaware and Lehigh Canals are also connected from Easton by ferry service across the Delaware River to New Jersey and Delaware and Raritan Canal, connecting industrial loads to New York City.
First opened in 1832, the Delaware Canal still has most of its original keys, aqueducts, and overflow. Although two canals reached its peak voyage in 1855, after which coal transportation in the Lehigh corridor was further enhanced by the railroads, the canals remained in operation until the Great Depression in the early 1930s. According to the National Park Service, it is "the longest living canal in the country".
Video Pennsylvania Canal (Delaware Division)
History
The Canal Pennsylvania system is driven by the early success of the Erie Canal in New York State, which was opened in 1825. Construction in the Delaware Canal began in 1829, accomplished entirely by hand tools that employ the main import labor of Ireland.
Channels flow in dug channels paralleled with the Delaware River from Easton to Bristol, Pennsylvania; the route is generally located near the river. Originally 60 miles (96.6 km) long, the canal is about 60 feet (18.3 m) wide with a depth of about 3 feet (0.9 m).
After the original construction failed in 1830, it had to be reengineered by Josiah White of the Coal Company and Lehigh Navigation, which had offered to engineer and build the Delaware Channel to stop charges in 1824. The state sold the canals to the Coal Company and Lehigh Navigation in the year 1858.
The Delaware Canal takes over the easy part of the journey for the coal barges that descend the rapids scattered in the Lehigh Valley of Mauch Chunk and Nesquehoning Heights, Pennsylvania, and large coal fields connecting beyond them. Millions of tons of coal traveled from Wilkes-Barre down the Lehigh Valley transport infrastructure, then completed the journey on Delaware Canal stakes.
But competition from railway caused a decrease in barging traffic. In the 1920s, anthracite coal faded as a fuel source. Last commercial via traffic explored the canals in October 1931 and the bankrupt Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company sold the channel back to the country at a nominal cost.
In 1933, a private group called the Delaware Valley Protective Association (DVPA) was established to protect the canal as a historic asset. DVPA persuaded the state to continue maintenance of the canals in 1940, when its towpath became Theodore Roosevelt State Park. The embankment is restored and the canal is replenished with water.
During the 1940s and 1950s, the canal was largely untouched. However, in the early 1960s, Pennsylvania officials explored plans to open canals and make way for cars. Locals struggle for canal protection. In 1964, Bucks County historian and DVPA member Willis M. Rivinus wrote the first Guide to the Delaware Channel to draw attention to channel value.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, DVPA and other influential citizens sought to secure federal landmark status to protect Channels. In 1974, Channels were placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1976, he was designated a National Historic Landmark, which helped assure his preservation. The walkway itself is named as the official National Recreation Line.
In 1988, the US government created the Heritage Corridor of Delaware and the Lehigh National Heritage, which included 165 miles north-south of eastern Pennsylvania that included the Delaware Canal. In 1989, Theodore Roosevelt State Park was renamed Delaware Canal State Park.
However, public funding for channels is often insufficient and, as in other parts of the country, nonprofit private groups have been created to fill the void. In 1983, Bucks County residents Betty Orlemann organized the Friends of the Delaware Canal (FODC), now the largest fundraising group and volunteer on the canal. (DVPA no longer exists). Under the old executive director Susan Taylor, the FODC also serves as a watchdog group, ensuring the goal must be met to make the walkpath walkpaths over its entire length and finally get a fully watered canal from Easton to Bristol.
Parts of the Delaware Canal channel were wiped out or damaged during floods in 2004, 2005 and 2006 respectively. Parts of the trail were closed and skipped, including the long northern part of Washington Crossing and the southern part of Riegelsville. In February 2008, a section of the trail collapsed and 23 miles (37 km) from the channel lost water.
Through funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (PA DCNR) is currently improving the already washed section of channels. As of October 2009, according to Delaware Canal State Park manager Rick Dalton, 75% of the towpaths have been restored and are expected to be fully accessible by summer 2010.
Maps Pennsylvania Canal (Delaware Division)
Engineering
In New Hope, engineers connect the bottom wheel of the wheel to another wheel with a bucket, which lifts water from the Delaware River into the canal only by using the power of the stream.
A few hundred meters above, there is a key exit to the Delaware River, and on the other side of the river there is a key to the Delaware and Raritan canals. To allow boats to cross the river, the engineers designed a system in which two wires of unequal length attached to the wheels on the wires stretching across the river would hold the boat diagonally into the current, thus acting as screens, pushing the ship across.
Mule Barge Tourist Ride
Barges drawn by Mule, operated by private concession holders, provide rides for rented private parties departing from landings at Key # 11 in New Hope north to the point about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) above the Bridge Center, for a one-trip total length of 4.5 miles (7.2 km).
Tourist venues are also offered, however, they stop at the vicinity of the Rabbit Run bridge, which brings the PA 32 on the canal, about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Lock # 11. The rides are offered around 1954 to 2006. Each boat can carrying between 55 and 80 passengers and withdrawn by two mules. Four ships,
Since 1997, barge operations have been under regulation by the US Coast Guard (for example, the driver must obtain Master Mariner license) and, if reopened, will face the regulations enacted in 2009 on his brother's operations at Lehigh Canal in Easton, PA by US Department of Homeland Security for crew members at "sensitive ship location and dock".
See also
- Lehigh Canal - Sister Channel in Lehigh Valley feeding coal traffic to Delaware Canal via connections in Easton, Pennsylvania.
- Delaware and Raritan Canal - New Jersey's canal connection to New York & amp; The New Jersey market sends mainly coal across the Delaware River. D & amp; R also shipped Iron Ore from New Jersey to Lehigh.
- Chesapeake and Delaware Canal - A canal that crosses Delmarva Peninsula in the states of Delaware and Maryland, connecting the Chesapeake Bay to Delaware Bay.
- Delaware and Hudson Canal - The coal canal built earlier when the age of the American canal begins; contemporary with Lehigh and Schuylkill navigation.
- Schuylkill Channel - Navigation joins Reading, PA, and Philadelphia.
Note
References
- Bartholomew, Ann M.; Metz, Lance E.; Kneis, Michael (1989). DELAWARE and LEHIGH CANALS , 158 pages (First ed.). Oak Printing Company, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: Channel History and Technology Center, Hugh Moore Historical Park and Museum, Inc., Easton, Pennsylvania. ISBN: 0930973097. LCCNÃ, 89-25150.
Footnote
External links
- Delaware Canal Photos
- PA DCNR Delaware Canal State Park
- Delaware Channel History
- Delaware Channel Friends
- Historical American Engineering Records (HAER) No.Ã, PA-103, "Pennsylvania Channel, Delaware Division, Between Keys 13 & 14", 15 pages of data
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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