Locking Through

Today was a perfect Thunderbird touring day, so we headed west along the Mohawk River to Erie Canal Lock 17 at Little Falls.

It must have been an amazing feat building this lock, which is the highest on the Erie Canal at 40.5 feet.

Click on the photo to make it larger and you can read about it and the other high lift locks around the world.

The controls:

It has come along way since the original Erie Canal was built. This is what is left of it...

We were lucky enough to arrive in time to watch a motoryacht approach and lock through. We had to wait for the water to go out of the lock before the lift gate opened. Each cycle of locking moves 5 million gallons of water!

The gigantic door is lifted with this chain attached to a bar with counterweights that go down, raising the door up.

Eventually the huge concrete weights were lower than the lift gate. It was interesting to see the extra concrete blocks that were installed on the main weight bar so that everything works smoothly. It took awhile for us to finally see the "light at the end of the tunnel."

As I walked in front of the gate/door when it was all the way up, I noticed lots of plants growing in it. If I was a lockmaster, I would be growing herbs in it while at work. 😉

The boat finally got to pass under it all and the crew grabbed one of the numerous lines hanging in the water. They kept themselves secure and in place with this line and by using their bow thruster to stay against the wall in all the current as the water rose from below (the water coming from the doors is just water that leaks in).

After rising up the 40+ ft., the doors at the other end opened and they were on their way west to the next lock before Oneida Lake.

Just as "Ladies First" was getting ready to leave we heard a call on the marine VHF radio that there were two more boats arriving to the east and ready to lock through. There was no down bound traffic so all those millions of gallons of water had to come back out so it could accommodate the other vessels. I hope they knew that they had to wait awhile since the process takes a long time.

It was another fantastic adventure and actually very educational. It is incredible what interesting things we find only a little more than an hour away from home.