Boats entering Erie Canal lock.
The Erie Canal is an artificial waterway in New York that runs about 363 miles from Albany on the Hudson River to Buffalo at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. First proposed in 1808, it was under construction from 1817 to 1832 and officially opened[1] on October 26, 1825. It was the first transportation system between the eastern seaboard (New York City) and the western interior (Great Lakes) of the United States that did not require portage, was faster than carts pulled by draft animals, and cut transport costs by about 95%. The canal fostered a population surge in western New York state, opened regions farther west to settlement, and helped New York City become the chief port. It was expanded between 1834 and 1862. In 1918, the original canal was replaced by the larger New York State Barge Canal. Today, it is part of the New York State Canal System. In 2000, the United States Congress designated the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor[2] to recognize the national significance of the canal system as the most successful and influential human-built waterway and one of the most important works of civil engineering and construction in North America.[3] Mainly used by recreational watercraft in the recent past, the canal saw an upsurge in commercial traffic in 2008.[
Size: 5120px × 3401px
Location: Erie Canal, NY USA
Photo credit: © Peter Steiner / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: barge, barges, boats, cabin, canal, close, crafts, cruiser, empty, erie, fill, historic, horizontal, landmark, level, lock, marine, ny, open, oswego, pleasure, raise, shut, side, traffic, usa, water, waterway
