Following the Flow– Stop 5 Seneca River/ Montezuma/ Richmond Aqueduct Sitting on the banks of the Seneca River just west of Montezuma are the remains of one of the most important structures on the Enlarged Erie Canal. At 894 feet in length, the Seneca River Aqueduct (aka the Montezuma or the Richmond) was the second longest aqueduct on the system. It was opened to traffic in 1856 and was in service until 1917. To understand why the building of the aqueduct was so important, we need to step back in time to 1820 and the first Erie Canal. When the builders of the canal reached the Seneca River, they were faced with the largest obstacle they had seen yet, the Seneca River and the Cayuga Marshes. The deep mucky river bottom, the slow moving river and the bugs all created a situation that they didn’t wish to deal with. Early plans called for the canal to enter the river and for boats to head upriver following the Seneca and Clyde Rivers to the west. But this plan was soon changed and a river crossing was devised. The plan was to build the canal in a manner that it connected with the river. In a sense, Lock 62 on the eastern bank of the river was the end of the canal. When the boat passed through the lock, it had left the artificial canal environment and entered into an environment that man had much less control over, the natural river. Crossing a river by floating upon its waters is called a “slack-water” crossing, and while it was not a desirable way to perform such a crossing, it was not unusual either. A small dam backed water up in the river, forming a pool of still water. The pulling animals walked over the river on a bridge and the boat was pulled through the river to the other side. This can be seen in this drawing made in 1825. (taken from the book, Bond of Union , Gerard Koeppel, 2009) The Seneca River inter- sects with the Clyde River at this place, creating a series of open channels. The canal had to cross over two miles of open waters and wetlands be- fore it reached the west- ern dry lands. The wooden bridge in the drawing was 1440 feet long. The problem with slack-water crossings is that rivers flood in wet seasons and get very low in dry seasons. In high water, the land and canal were under water, and during the dry months, boats had to be “lightened up” to make it across the river. For 30 years, the canal commissioners fought with the river, and most of the time they lost or at least fought to an uneasy truce. The only good solution was a bridge.
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Following the Flow– Stop 5
Seneca River/ Montezuma/ Richmond Aqueduct
Sitting on the banks of the Seneca River just west of Montezuma are the remains of one of the most
important structures on the Enlarged Erie Canal. At 894 feet in length, the Seneca River Aqueduct (aka
the Montezuma or the Richmond) was the second longest aqueduct on the system. It was opened to
traffic in 1856 and was in service until 1917.
To understand why the building of the aqueduct was so important, we need to step back in time to
1820 and the first Erie Canal. When the builders of the canal reached the Seneca River, they were
faced with the largest obstacle they had seen yet, the Seneca River and the Cayuga Marshes. The deep
mucky river bottom, the slow moving river and the bugs all created a situation that they didn’t wish to
deal with. Early plans called for the canal to enter the river and for boats to head upriver following the
Seneca and Clyde Rivers to the west. But this plan was soon changed and a river crossing was devised.
The plan was to build the canal in a manner that it connected with the river. In a sense, Lock 62 on the
eastern bank of the river was the end of the canal. When the boat passed through the lock, it had left
the artificial canal environment and entered into an environment that man had much less control over,
the natural river. Crossing a river by floating upon its waters is called a “slack-water” crossing, and while
it was not a desirable way to perform such a crossing, it was not unusual either. A small dam backed
water up in the river, forming a pool of still water. The pulling animals walked over the river on a bridge
and the boat was pulled through the river to the other side. This can be seen in this drawing made in
1825. (taken from the book, Bond of Union, Gerard Koeppel, 2009)
The Seneca River inter-
sects with the Clyde River
at this place, creating a
series of open channels.
The canal had to cross
over two miles of open
waters and wetlands be-
fore it reached the west-
ern dry lands. The
wooden bridge in the
drawing was 1440 feet
long. The problem with
slack-water crossings is
that rivers flood in wet
seasons and get very low
in dry seasons. In high
water, the land and canal
were under water, and
during the dry months,
boats had to be “lightened
up” to make it across the river. For 30 years, the canal commissioners fought with the river, and most of
the time they lost or at least fought to an uneasy truce. The only good solution was a bridge.
At the time, Van R. Richmond was the canal engineer in charge of the middle section of the canal. He
made plans to radically change the canal by building a high embankment and aqueduct that would carry
the canal over the river and wetlands, eliminating the troublesome crossing. The new embankment
would raise the level of the canal to equal the elevation of Lock 51 at Port Byron. By doing this, it
would also do away with four locks, saving time and construction dollars. At first, the plan was to build
two smaller aqueducts, one for the Seneca River and one for the Clyde, and in 1849, work began on
both aqueducts. Whether it was money, time, construction difficulties or all of these, the plans were
changed to build one large aqueduct and then move the flow of the rivers to pass under it.
The new aqueduct had a footprint that covered 2 acres. There were 4464 bearing piles driven into the
muck, some as long as 30 feet long. On top of the piles a wooden floor was constructed. This floor cre-
ated a level surface for the masons to work and build the stone arches, piers and towpath. The arches
were 22 feet wide and 11 feet tall and there were 31 in total crossing the river. Once the stonework was
finished, the wooden trunk, containing over a million board feet of wood, was built.