Chesapeake and Delaware Canal
Encyclopedia
The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal (C&D Canal) is a 14-mile (23-km) long, 450-foot (137-m) wide and 40-foot (11-m) deep ship canal
that cuts across the states of Maryland
and Delaware
, in the United States
. It connects the waters of the Delaware River
with those of the Chesapeake Bay
(the emptying point of the Susquehanna River
) and the Port of Baltimore
. The C&D Canal is owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District. The project office in Chesapeake City, Maryland
, is also the site of the C&D Canal Museum and Bethel Bridge Lighthouse.
realized the nation's growth through industry and commerce would depend upon economical transportation of goods across both land and water. In the mid-17th century Augustine Herman, a mapmaker and Prague (Bohemia, now Czech Republic) native who had served as an envoy for the Dutch, observed that two great bodies of water, the Delaware River and Chesapeake Bay, were separated only by a narrow strip of land. Herman proposed that a waterway be built to connect the two. The canal would reduce, by nearly 300 miles (500 km), the water routes between Philadelphia and Baltimore
.
More than a century passed, however, before any action was taken. In 1764, a survey of possible water routes across the Delmarva Peninsula
was made. One such water route was proposed by Thomas Gilpin, Sr., a Quaker from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. In 1764, Gilpin purchased 39 acres of land much of which is located in and around present day Millington, MD. Millington was then known as Head of Chester considering the head of the Chester River
is located in the Town. As a member of the American Philosophical Society
, Gilpin was involved with planning a possible waterway that would be a shortcut for shipping from the Chesapeake Bay
to the City of Philadelphia. He proposed that a canal be built across the Delmarva Peninsula
to connect the Chester River
at what is now Millington, MD to the Delaware River
. However, a canal would not become a reality for decades
The issue of constructing the waterway was raised again in 1788 by regional business leaders, including noted Philadelphians Benjamin Franklin
and Benjamin Rush
. In 1802, following actions by the legislatures of Maryland
, Delaware and Pennsylvania
, the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company was incorporated. More surveys followed, and in 1804 construction of the canal began including 14 locks to connect the Christina River
in Delaware with the Elk River
at Welch Point, Maryland, but the project was halted two years later for lack of funds.
purchased $100,000 in stock, the State of Maryland
$50,000 and Delaware $25,000. The federal government's investment was $450,000 with the remainder subscribed by the public.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers played a vital yet unofficial role for the canal company in 1823 and 1824, providing two senior commissioned officers to assist in determining a canal route. The engineer officers and two civilian engineers recommended a new route with four locks, extending from Newbold's Landing Harbor (now Delaware City, Del.)
, westward to the Back Creek branch of the Elk River
in Maryland.
Canal construction resumed in April 1824, and in several years some 2,600 men were digging and hauling dirt from the ditch. Laborers toiled with pick and shovel at the immense construction task, working for an average daily wage of 75 cents. The swampy marshlands along the canal's planned route proved a great impediment to progress as workers continuously battled slides along the soft slopes of the "ditch" being cut. It was 1829 before the C&D Canal Company could, at last, announce the waterway "open for business." The near $2.5 million construction cost made it one of the most expensive canal projects of its time.
s also crossed the canal. Locks to pass vessels through the waterway's various levels were constructed at Delaware City, Delaware
and St. Georges, Del., and two at Chesapeake City, Maryland
. Each measured 100 feet (30 m) long and 22 feet (6.7 m) wide and was eventually enlarged to 220 feet (67 m) in length and 24 feet (7.3 m) in width.
Teams of mule
s and horse
s towed freight and passenger barges, schooner
s and sloop
s through the canal. Cargoes included practically every useful item of daily life: lumber, grain, farm products, fish, cotton, coal, iron, and whiskey. Packet lines were eventually established to move freight through the waterway. One such enterprise — the Ericsson Line — operated between Baltimore and Philadelphia, and continued to carry passengers and freight through the canal into the 1940s. The cargo tonnage peaked in 1872 with more than 1.3 million tons transiting the canal.
The Ericsson Line of steamboats originated as steamers built for freight only, however, the line converted to passenger boats during the time of the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, as the demand for travel increased through the picturesque landscape of the canal. The Baltimore and Philadelphia Steamship Company, which operated the Ericsson line, built and furnished ships with seventy to eighty staterooms in addition to the freight facilities. In turn, these ships grew from less than one hundred to more than six hundred tons and greatly increased travel from Baltimore to Philadelphia. The Ericsson Line was named after its first ship, Ericsson, which was named after John Ericsson who developed the screw propeller that was installed on the vessel specifically designed for the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. Ericsson was built at Reanie & Neafie’s shipyard in Philadelphia by Anthony Groves Jr. The ship was finished in 1843, was seventy-eight feet in length and weighed eighty tons. The ship began operations in 1844 under the direction of Captain Noah F. Ireland. The Ericsson Line operated out of Baltimore’s No. 1 Light Street Pier for seventy five years, serving passenger and freight demands throughout the waterway with thirty registered steamers. The Ericsson Line’s success brought utility and prosperity to the canal and acted as a magnificent impetus for the expansion of trade by means of its enlargement and successful vocation with the Atlantic Deeper Waterways Association of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.
Loss of water in the locks was a problem from early on. As boats passed through at Chesapeake City, the equivalent of a full lock of water was lost to the lower-lying portion of the canal. This loss due to locking vessels through the canal, compounded by leakage through the canal banks and normal evaporation, made it necessary to devise a means of lifting water into the project's upper part.
A steam operated pump was purchased in 1837 to raise water from Back Creek and in 1852 a steam engine
and large waterwheel were installed at the pumphouse in Chesapeake City. Measuring 39 feet (12 m) in diameter and 10 feet (3 m) wide, the iron and wood waterwheel had 12 troughs which filled with water as it turned; the water then spilled over the hub into the raceway and into the uppermost canal level. By 1854 a second steam engine was in use. The two 150 horsepower (112 kW) engines consumed eight tons of coal daily while lifting 170 tons of water per minute into the canal. The waterwheel and steam engines remained in continuous use through the mid-1920s.
Throughout the 19th century the canal's use continued to change with the New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Rail Road
being its only major competitor. Steam power brought larger and deeper-draft vessels that could not pass through the restricting locks. By the turn of the 20th century the decline in canal traffic and great cost of operation and repairs brought a downward trend in canal profits. Clearly a larger, wider and deeper waterway was needed.
At the time, however, little thought was given to improving the existing canal. New companies were formed instead, with at least six options to consider for a new canal route. Various committees and commissions appointed to study the issue failed to agree on a plan. President Theodore Roosevelt
then appointed a commission in 1906 to report on the feasibility of converting the canal to a "free and open waterway."
In 1919 the canal was purchased by the federal government
for $2.5 million and designated the "Intra-coastal Waterway Delaware River to Chesapeake Bay, Delaware and Maryland." Included were six bridges plus a railroad span owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad
. They were replaced during the 1920s by four vertical lift spans and a new railroad bridge.
Responsibility for operating, maintaining and improving the waterway was assigned to the United States Army Corps of Engineers
, Wilmington (Del.) District. By 1927 the eastern entrance at Delaware City had been relocated several miles south at Reedy Point, Del. All locks (except the one at Delaware City) were removed and the waterway was converted to a sea-level operation at 12 feet (3.7 m) deep and 90 feet (27 m) wide. These improvements cost $10 million. Two stone jetties
at the new eastern entrance were completed in 1926.
The "new" canal opened in May 1927 with great celebration, yet plans already were underway for further expansion as the sizes of ships and amounts of cargo continued to increase. The Philadelphia District took over operation of the canal in 1933. Between 1935 and 1938 the channel was again improved — deepened to 27 feet (8.2 m) and widened to 250 feet (76 m) at a cost of nearly $13 million. The project was also expanded to include a federal navigation channel 27 feet (8.2 m) deep and 400 feet (122 m) wide for some 26 miles (42 km) in the Upper Chesapeake Bay, from the Elk River
to Poole's Island.
Through the years, as the sizes and tonnages of ships using the canal continued to grow, accidents and one-way traffic restrictions strained the canal's capacity. Between 1938 and 1950 alone, eight ships collided with bridges. In 1954 the United States Congress
authorized further expansion of the channel to 450 feet (137 m) wide and 35 feet (11 m) deep. These improvements began in the 1960s and were completed in the mid-1970s.
New bridges to accommodate highway traffic crossing the canal also became necessary as deepening and widening progressed. Two mechanical lift bridges at St. Georges and Chesapeake City, toppled by ship collisions, were replaced in the 1940s with high-level highway spans (the former, the St. Georges Bridge
, has largely been bypassed by the new Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Bridge
, opened in 1995). Two other high-level vehicular traffic bridges, Summit Bridge
in 1960 and Reedy Point Bridge
in 1968, were constructed as part of the 1954 improvement authorization.
In 1966 a new railroad lift bridge was also completed by the Corps and turned over to the Pennsylvania Railroad to carry freight across the canal. The railroad and Summit spans were recognized by the American Institute of Steel Construction as the most beautiful bridges of their types in the years they were completed.
Thus the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal approached 175 years of service as a vastly improved waterway, far different from its 19th-century predecessor.
Since 1933 the Corps' Philadelphia District has managed canal and highway bridge operations from a two-story white frame building on the canal's southern bank at Chesapeake City, Md. Cargo ships of all sizes, tankers, container-carrying vessels (all up to Seawaymax
-classification), barges accompanied by tugboats, and countless recreational boats create a steady flow of traffic. Through state-of-the-art fiber optic and microwave links, dispatchers use closed-circuit television and radio systems to monitor and safely move commercial traffic through the waterway.
Navigating oceangoing vessels requires extensive maritime skills, with strong currents or bad weather conditions adding to the risks. A United States Coast Guard
certified pilot is required for vessels engaged in foreign trade transiting the canal, the Delaware River and Bay, and Chesapeake Bay. Many shipping firms use pilots from the Delaware River and Bay or Maryland pilots' associations.
Typically a Delaware River and Bay pilot boards a ship as it passes Lewes, Del., entering the Delaware Bay, and guides the vessel up the bay and into the canal to Chesapeake City. A Maryland pilot then takes over and continues the ship's transit into the Chesapeake Bay to Baltimore or Annapolis, Maryland
The procedure is reversed for eastbound ships. At Chesapeake City a "changing of the pilots" takes place, while the pilot launch maneuvers alongside a vessel as it continues its journey without stopping. The pilots use the ship's gangway, Jacob's ladder or port entrance to climb aboard or leave the vessel.
A corps feasibility study to investigate improvements for the canal and the Baltimore connecting navigation channels of Tolchester, Brewerton Eastern Extension and Swan Point was completed in December 1996 with the signing of the chief of engineers' report. The study, co-sponsored by the Maryland Department of Transportation, investigated deepening of the channel to 40 feet (12 m) from its current 35 foot (11 m) depth (allowing Panamax
-class vessels), plus additional navigation improvements and environmental initiatives. (NOTE: On January 22, 2001, the Philadelphia District announced that this study was being suspended based on recent downturns in Port of Baltimore
container ship traffic.)
Through the efforts of federal, state and local agencies, all aspects of canal improvements recommended at the conclusion of the study were analyzed for environmental, cultural, economic and engineering concerns. The chief's report concluded the plan was sound from an engineering aspect, but certain economic and environmental concerns needed to be resolved before the design of a project could be initiated.
These issues are being addressed as the project continues through the three-year preconstruction engineering and design phase, which is being cost-shared with the Maryland Port Administration. Technical research, supplemented by extensive public involvement, will provide a strong foundation for decision making in any further improvements to it. Such efforts reflect the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' commitment to enabling the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal to continue its leading role in serving the nation's North Atlantic ports.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates the C&D Canal Museum at Chesapeake City, Maryland
, housed in the original canal pumphouse
with a waterwheel and pumping engines. The museum illustrates the canal's history and operations. Current operations can be viewed through a television monitor which gives visitors up-to-the minute locations on ships as they travel through the canal. Admission is free and the museum is open Monday-Friday year round, except for government holidays.
A full-sized replica of the 30-foot Bethel Bridge Lighthouse is located on on Corps property, a short walk from the museum. The original lighthouse was used to warn vessels of locks and bridges in the days before the 1927 canal changes made it sea level.
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
that cuts across the states of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It connects the waters of the Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
with those of the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
(the emptying point of the Susquehanna River
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...
) and the Port of Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
. The C&D Canal is owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District. The project office in Chesapeake City, Maryland
Chesapeake City, Maryland
Chesapeake City is a town in Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The population was 787 at the 2000 census.The town was originally named by Bohemian colonist Augustine Herman the Village of Bohemia , but the name was changed in 1839 when the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal was built...
, is also the site of the C&D Canal Museum and Bethel Bridge Lighthouse.
Early years
As early as the 17th century, settlers to the New WorldNew World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
realized the nation's growth through industry and commerce would depend upon economical transportation of goods across both land and water. In the mid-17th century Augustine Herman, a mapmaker and Prague (Bohemia, now Czech Republic) native who had served as an envoy for the Dutch, observed that two great bodies of water, the Delaware River and Chesapeake Bay, were separated only by a narrow strip of land. Herman proposed that a waterway be built to connect the two. The canal would reduce, by nearly 300 miles (500 km), the water routes between Philadelphia and Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
.
More than a century passed, however, before any action was taken. In 1764, a survey of possible water routes across the Delmarva Peninsula
Delmarva Peninsula
The Delmarva Peninsula is a large peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by most of Delaware and portions of Maryland and Virginia...
was made. One such water route was proposed by Thomas Gilpin, Sr., a Quaker from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. In 1764, Gilpin purchased 39 acres of land much of which is located in and around present day Millington, MD. Millington was then known as Head of Chester considering the head of the Chester River
Chester River
The Chester River is a major tributary of the Chesapeake Bay on the Delmarva Peninsula. It is about long, and its watershed encompasses , which includes of land. Thus the total watershed area is 20% water. It forms the border between Kent County and Queen Anne's County, Maryland, with its...
is located in the Town. As a member of the American Philosophical Society
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743, and located in Philadelphia, Pa., is an eminent scholarly organization of international reputation, that promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications,...
, Gilpin was involved with planning a possible waterway that would be a shortcut for shipping from the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
to the City of Philadelphia. He proposed that a canal be built across the Delmarva Peninsula
Delmarva Peninsula
The Delmarva Peninsula is a large peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by most of Delaware and portions of Maryland and Virginia...
to connect the Chester River
Chester River
The Chester River is a major tributary of the Chesapeake Bay on the Delmarva Peninsula. It is about long, and its watershed encompasses , which includes of land. Thus the total watershed area is 20% water. It forms the border between Kent County and Queen Anne's County, Maryland, with its...
at what is now Millington, MD to the Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
. However, a canal would not become a reality for decades
The issue of constructing the waterway was raised again in 1788 by regional business leaders, including noted Philadelphians Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
and Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Rush was a Founding Father of the United States. Rush lived in the state of Pennsylvania and was a physician, writer, educator, humanitarian and a Christian Universalist, as well as the founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania....
. In 1802, following actions by the legislatures of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, Delaware and Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company was incorporated. More surveys followed, and in 1804 construction of the canal began including 14 locks to connect the Christina River
Christina River
The Christina River is a tributary of the Delaware River, approximately 35 miles long, in northern Delaware in the United States, also flowing through small areas of southeastern Pennsylvania and northeastern Maryland. Near its mouth the river flows past downtown Wilmington, Delaware,...
in Delaware with the Elk River
Elk River (Maryland)
The Elk River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay on the Delmarva Peninsula. It is about long, and as the most northeastern extension of the Chesapeake Bay estuary, serves as one entrance to the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. It is located in Cecil County, Maryland, with its headwaters extending...
at Welch Point, Maryland, but the project was halted two years later for lack of funds.
Construction
The canal company was reorganized in 1822, and new surveys determined that more than $2 million in capital was needed to resume construction. Eventually the Commonwealth of PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
purchased $100,000 in stock, the State of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
$50,000 and Delaware $25,000. The federal government's investment was $450,000 with the remainder subscribed by the public.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers played a vital yet unofficial role for the canal company in 1823 and 1824, providing two senior commissioned officers to assist in determining a canal route. The engineer officers and two civilian engineers recommended a new route with four locks, extending from Newbold's Landing Harbor (now Delaware City, Del.)
Delaware City, Delaware
Delaware City is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The population was 1,695 at the 2010 census. It is a small port town on the eastern terminus of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and is the location of the ferry to Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island.-Geography:Delaware City is...
, westward to the Back Creek branch of the Elk River
Elk River (Maryland)
The Elk River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay on the Delmarva Peninsula. It is about long, and as the most northeastern extension of the Chesapeake Bay estuary, serves as one entrance to the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. It is located in Cecil County, Maryland, with its headwaters extending...
in Maryland.
Canal construction resumed in April 1824, and in several years some 2,600 men were digging and hauling dirt from the ditch. Laborers toiled with pick and shovel at the immense construction task, working for an average daily wage of 75 cents. The swampy marshlands along the canal's planned route proved a great impediment to progress as workers continuously battled slides along the soft slopes of the "ditch" being cut. It was 1829 before the C&D Canal Company could, at last, announce the waterway "open for business." The near $2.5 million construction cost made it one of the most expensive canal projects of its time.
1829 to 1919
The Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River were now connected by a navigation channel measuring nearly 14 miles (23 km) long, 10 feet (3 m) deep, 66 feet (20 m) wide at the waterline and 36 feet (11 m) wide along the channel bottom. A covered wooden bridge at Summit, Delaware, spanned the canal across the "Deep Cut", measuring 250 feet (76 m) between abutments. The bridge floor was 90 feet (27 m) above the channel bottom. Three wooden swing bridgeSwing bridge
A swing bridge is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its centre of gravity, about which the turning span can then pivot horizontally as shown in the animated illustration to the right...
s also crossed the canal. Locks to pass vessels through the waterway's various levels were constructed at Delaware City, Delaware
Delaware City, Delaware
Delaware City is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The population was 1,695 at the 2010 census. It is a small port town on the eastern terminus of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and is the location of the ferry to Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island.-Geography:Delaware City is...
and St. Georges, Del., and two at Chesapeake City, Maryland
Chesapeake City, Maryland
Chesapeake City is a town in Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The population was 787 at the 2000 census.The town was originally named by Bohemian colonist Augustine Herman the Village of Bohemia , but the name was changed in 1839 when the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal was built...
. Each measured 100 feet (30 m) long and 22 feet (6.7 m) wide and was eventually enlarged to 220 feet (67 m) in length and 24 feet (7.3 m) in width.
Teams of mule
Mule
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...
s and horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s towed freight and passenger barges, schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
s and sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
s through the canal. Cargoes included practically every useful item of daily life: lumber, grain, farm products, fish, cotton, coal, iron, and whiskey. Packet lines were eventually established to move freight through the waterway. One such enterprise — the Ericsson Line — operated between Baltimore and Philadelphia, and continued to carry passengers and freight through the canal into the 1940s. The cargo tonnage peaked in 1872 with more than 1.3 million tons transiting the canal.
The Ericsson Line of steamboats originated as steamers built for freight only, however, the line converted to passenger boats during the time of the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, as the demand for travel increased through the picturesque landscape of the canal. The Baltimore and Philadelphia Steamship Company, which operated the Ericsson line, built and furnished ships with seventy to eighty staterooms in addition to the freight facilities. In turn, these ships grew from less than one hundred to more than six hundred tons and greatly increased travel from Baltimore to Philadelphia. The Ericsson Line was named after its first ship, Ericsson, which was named after John Ericsson who developed the screw propeller that was installed on the vessel specifically designed for the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. Ericsson was built at Reanie & Neafie’s shipyard in Philadelphia by Anthony Groves Jr. The ship was finished in 1843, was seventy-eight feet in length and weighed eighty tons. The ship began operations in 1844 under the direction of Captain Noah F. Ireland. The Ericsson Line operated out of Baltimore’s No. 1 Light Street Pier for seventy five years, serving passenger and freight demands throughout the waterway with thirty registered steamers. The Ericsson Line’s success brought utility and prosperity to the canal and acted as a magnificent impetus for the expansion of trade by means of its enlargement and successful vocation with the Atlantic Deeper Waterways Association of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.
Loss of water in the locks was a problem from early on. As boats passed through at Chesapeake City, the equivalent of a full lock of water was lost to the lower-lying portion of the canal. This loss due to locking vessels through the canal, compounded by leakage through the canal banks and normal evaporation, made it necessary to devise a means of lifting water into the project's upper part.
A steam operated pump was purchased in 1837 to raise water from Back Creek and in 1852 a steam engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
and large waterwheel were installed at the pumphouse in Chesapeake City. Measuring 39 feet (12 m) in diameter and 10 feet (3 m) wide, the iron and wood waterwheel had 12 troughs which filled with water as it turned; the water then spilled over the hub into the raceway and into the uppermost canal level. By 1854 a second steam engine was in use. The two 150 horsepower (112 kW) engines consumed eight tons of coal daily while lifting 170 tons of water per minute into the canal. The waterwheel and steam engines remained in continuous use through the mid-1920s.
Throughout the 19th century the canal's use continued to change with the New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Rail Road
New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Rail Road
When New Castle's prosperity was threatened by the building of a canal connecting the Delaware River to the Chesapeake Bay, merchants and other businessmen constructed a railroad to cover the route from New Castle to the Chesapeake. Known as the New Castle-Frenchtown Railroad, it opened in 1828,...
being its only major competitor. Steam power brought larger and deeper-draft vessels that could not pass through the restricting locks. By the turn of the 20th century the decline in canal traffic and great cost of operation and repairs brought a downward trend in canal profits. Clearly a larger, wider and deeper waterway was needed.
At the time, however, little thought was given to improving the existing canal. New companies were formed instead, with at least six options to consider for a new canal route. Various committees and commissions appointed to study the issue failed to agree on a plan. President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
then appointed a commission in 1906 to report on the feasibility of converting the canal to a "free and open waterway."
1920s to 1970s
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
for $2.5 million and designated the "Intra-coastal Waterway Delaware River to Chesapeake Bay, Delaware and Maryland." Included were six bridges plus a railroad span owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
. They were replaced during the 1920s by four vertical lift spans and a new railroad bridge.
Responsibility for operating, maintaining and improving the waterway was assigned to the United States Army Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
, Wilmington (Del.) District. By 1927 the eastern entrance at Delaware City had been relocated several miles south at Reedy Point, Del. All locks (except the one at Delaware City) were removed and the waterway was converted to a sea-level operation at 12 feet (3.7 m) deep and 90 feet (27 m) wide. These improvements cost $10 million. Two stone jetties
Jetty
A jetty is any of a variety of structures used in river, dock, and maritime works that are generally carried out in pairs from river banks, or in continuation of river channels at their outlets into deep water; or out into docks, and outside their entrances; or for forming basins along the...
at the new eastern entrance were completed in 1926.
The "new" canal opened in May 1927 with great celebration, yet plans already were underway for further expansion as the sizes of ships and amounts of cargo continued to increase. The Philadelphia District took over operation of the canal in 1933. Between 1935 and 1938 the channel was again improved — deepened to 27 feet (8.2 m) and widened to 250 feet (76 m) at a cost of nearly $13 million. The project was also expanded to include a federal navigation channel 27 feet (8.2 m) deep and 400 feet (122 m) wide for some 26 miles (42 km) in the Upper Chesapeake Bay, from the Elk River
Elk River (Maryland)
The Elk River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay on the Delmarva Peninsula. It is about long, and as the most northeastern extension of the Chesapeake Bay estuary, serves as one entrance to the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. It is located in Cecil County, Maryland, with its headwaters extending...
to Poole's Island.
Through the years, as the sizes and tonnages of ships using the canal continued to grow, accidents and one-way traffic restrictions strained the canal's capacity. Between 1938 and 1950 alone, eight ships collided with bridges. In 1954 the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
authorized further expansion of the channel to 450 feet (137 m) wide and 35 feet (11 m) deep. These improvements began in the 1960s and were completed in the mid-1970s.
New bridges to accommodate highway traffic crossing the canal also became necessary as deepening and widening progressed. Two mechanical lift bridges at St. Georges and Chesapeake City, toppled by ship collisions, were replaced in the 1940s with high-level highway spans (the former, the St. Georges Bridge
St. Georges Bridge (Delaware)
The St. Georges Bridge is a steel truss bridge with a tied arch span that carries U.S. Route 13 across the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal in St. Georges, Delaware. Built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and opened in 1942 as a high-level crossing, the bridge was the first four-lane, high-level...
, has largely been bypassed by the new Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Bridge
Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Bridge
The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Bridge is a concrete and steel cable-stayed bridge that spans the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal near St. Georges, Delaware. The bridge is located near a tolled section of Delaware Route 1 that runs parallel to the St. Georges Bridge carrying U.S. Highway 13...
, opened in 1995). Two other high-level vehicular traffic bridges, Summit Bridge
Summit Bridge
The Summit Bridge carries U.S. Route 301 and Delaware Routes 71 and 896 across the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, connecting Newark, Delaware with Dover, Delaware and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge . The bridge also carries Delaware Bicycle Route 1, a bicycle route that spans the length of the state of...
in 1960 and Reedy Point Bridge
Reedy Point Bridge
The Reedy Point Bridge carries Delaware Route 9 across the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal in Delaware City, Delaware, USA. A two-lane cantilever bridge similar in appearance to the Platt Bridge in Southwest Philadelphia , the Reedy Point Bridge was built by the U.S...
in 1968, were constructed as part of the 1954 improvement authorization.
In 1966 a new railroad lift bridge was also completed by the Corps and turned over to the Pennsylvania Railroad to carry freight across the canal. The railroad and Summit spans were recognized by the American Institute of Steel Construction as the most beautiful bridges of their types in the years they were completed.
Thus the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal approached 175 years of service as a vastly improved waterway, far different from its 19th-century predecessor.
Modern day canal
Today's canal is a modern sea-level, electronically controlled commercial waterway, carrying 40 percent of all ship traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore.Since 1933 the Corps' Philadelphia District has managed canal and highway bridge operations from a two-story white frame building on the canal's southern bank at Chesapeake City, Md. Cargo ships of all sizes, tankers, container-carrying vessels (all up to Seawaymax
Seawaymax
The term Seawaymax refers to vessels which are the maximum size that can fit through the canal locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway.Seawaymax vessels are in length, wide, and have a draft of and a height above the waterline of . A number of lake freighters larger than this size cruise the Great...
-classification), barges accompanied by tugboats, and countless recreational boats create a steady flow of traffic. Through state-of-the-art fiber optic and microwave links, dispatchers use closed-circuit television and radio systems to monitor and safely move commercial traffic through the waterway.
Navigating oceangoing vessels requires extensive maritime skills, with strong currents or bad weather conditions adding to the risks. A United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
certified pilot is required for vessels engaged in foreign trade transiting the canal, the Delaware River and Bay, and Chesapeake Bay. Many shipping firms use pilots from the Delaware River and Bay or Maryland pilots' associations.
Typically a Delaware River and Bay pilot boards a ship as it passes Lewes, Del., entering the Delaware Bay, and guides the vessel up the bay and into the canal to Chesapeake City. A Maryland pilot then takes over and continues the ship's transit into the Chesapeake Bay to Baltimore or Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
The procedure is reversed for eastbound ships. At Chesapeake City a "changing of the pilots" takes place, while the pilot launch maneuvers alongside a vessel as it continues its journey without stopping. The pilots use the ship's gangway, Jacob's ladder or port entrance to climb aboard or leave the vessel.
Future of the canal
The canal is vital to the ports of the Delaware River, Baltimore, and others along the northern Atlantic trade routes. Millions of tons of cargo are transported through it annually by container and other bulk-carrying and general cargo vessels.A corps feasibility study to investigate improvements for the canal and the Baltimore connecting navigation channels of Tolchester, Brewerton Eastern Extension and Swan Point was completed in December 1996 with the signing of the chief of engineers' report. The study, co-sponsored by the Maryland Department of Transportation, investigated deepening of the channel to 40 feet (12 m) from its current 35 foot (11 m) depth (allowing Panamax
Panamax
Panamax and New Panamax are popular terms for the size limits for ships traveling through the Panama Canal. Formally, the limits and requirements are published by the Panama Canal Authority titled "Vessel Requirements"...
-class vessels), plus additional navigation improvements and environmental initiatives. (NOTE: On January 22, 2001, the Philadelphia District announced that this study was being suspended based on recent downturns in Port of Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
container ship traffic.)
Through the efforts of federal, state and local agencies, all aspects of canal improvements recommended at the conclusion of the study were analyzed for environmental, cultural, economic and engineering concerns. The chief's report concluded the plan was sound from an engineering aspect, but certain economic and environmental concerns needed to be resolved before the design of a project could be initiated.
These issues are being addressed as the project continues through the three-year preconstruction engineering and design phase, which is being cost-shared with the Maryland Port Administration. Technical research, supplemented by extensive public involvement, will provide a strong foundation for decision making in any further improvements to it. Such efforts reflect the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' commitment to enabling the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal to continue its leading role in serving the nation's North Atlantic ports.
C&D Canal Museum
Chesapeake City, Maryland
Chesapeake City is a town in Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The population was 787 at the 2000 census.The town was originally named by Bohemian colonist Augustine Herman the Village of Bohemia , but the name was changed in 1839 when the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal was built...
, housed in the original canal pumphouse
Old Lock Pump House, Chesapeake and Delaware Canal
The Old Lock Pump House on the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal was one of the first National Historic Landmarks to recognize an engineering achievement rather than an important building or a place associated with an historic event...
with a waterwheel and pumping engines. The museum illustrates the canal's history and operations. Current operations can be viewed through a television monitor which gives visitors up-to-the minute locations on ships as they travel through the canal. Admission is free and the museum is open Monday-Friday year round, except for government holidays.
A full-sized replica of the 30-foot Bethel Bridge Lighthouse is located on on Corps property, a short walk from the museum. The original lighthouse was used to warn vessels of locks and bridges in the days before the 1927 canal changes made it sea level.
Crossings
The following are crossings of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal west to east:| Crossing | Carries | Location | Coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chesapeake City Bridge Chesapeake City Bridge The Chesapeake City Bridge carries Maryland Route 213 across the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal in Chesapeake City, Maryland. There are two undivided traffic lanes and one sidewalk on the east side of the bridge. It was built in 1949 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide a high-level canal... |
 MD 213Maryland Route 213 Maryland Route 213 is a state highway located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the United States. The route runs from Maryland Route 662 in Wye Mills, Queen Anne's County north to the Pennsylvania border in Cecil County, where it continues into that state as Pennsylvania Route 841... |
Chesapeake City, Maryland Chesapeake City, Maryland Chesapeake City is a town in Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The population was 787 at the 2000 census.The town was originally named by Bohemian colonist Augustine Herman the Village of Bohemia , but the name was changed in 1839 when the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal was built... |
39°31′45"N 75°48′50"W |
| Summit Bridge Summit Bridge The Summit Bridge carries U.S. Route 301 and Delaware Routes 71 and 896 across the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, connecting Newark, Delaware with Dover, Delaware and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge . The bridge also carries Delaware Bicycle Route 1, a bicycle route that spans the length of the state of... |
 US 301U.S. Route 301 U.S. Route 301 is a spur of U.S. Route 1 running through the South Atlantic States. It currently runs 1,099 miles from Glasgow, Delaware at U.S. Route 40 to Sarasota, Florida. It passes through the states of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida...  DE 71Delaware Route 71 Delaware Route 71 is a state highway in New Castle County, Delaware. The route loops off U.S. Route 13 from south of Townsend to Tybouts Corner, traveling to the west of US 13 by way of Townsend, Middletown, and the Summit Bridge...  DE 896 |
Summit, Delaware | 39°32′29"N 75°44′17"W |
| Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Lift Bridge Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Lift Bridge The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Lift Bridge carries Norfolk Southern rail lines across the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. Built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of a canal expansion project and opened in 1966, the Canal Lift Bridge, the only drawbridge on the C & D Canal was... |
Norfolk Southern Railway Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada... |
Kirkwood, Delaware Kirkwood, Delaware Kirkwood is an unincorporated community in central New Castle County, Delaware, United States. It lies along Delaware Route 71, southwest of the city of Wilmington, the county seat of New Castle County. Its elevation is 69 feet . Although it is unincorporated, it has a post office, with... |
39°32′36"N 75°42′11"W |
| Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Bridge Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Bridge The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Bridge is a concrete and steel cable-stayed bridge that spans the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal near St. Georges, Delaware. The bridge is located near a tolled section of Delaware Route 1 that runs parallel to the St. Georges Bridge carrying U.S. Highway 13... |
 DE 1 |
St. Georges, Delaware | 39°33′00"N 75°39′23"W |
| St. Georges Bridge St. Georges Bridge (Delaware) The St. Georges Bridge is a steel truss bridge with a tied arch span that carries U.S. Route 13 across the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal in St. Georges, Delaware. Built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and opened in 1942 as a high-level crossing, the bridge was the first four-lane, high-level... |
 US 13U.S. Route 13 U.S. Route 13 is a north–south U.S. highway established in 1926 that runs for from Interstate 95 just north of Fayetteville, North Carolina to the northeastern suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in Morrisville. In all, it traverses five states in the Atlantic coastal plain region,... |
39°33′10"N 75°39′05"W | |
| Reedy Point Bridge Reedy Point Bridge The Reedy Point Bridge carries Delaware Route 9 across the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal in Delaware City, Delaware, USA. A two-lane cantilever bridge similar in appearance to the Platt Bridge in Southwest Philadelphia , the Reedy Point Bridge was built by the U.S... |
 DE 9Delaware Route 9 Delaware Route 9 is a state highway that connects with Delaware Route 1 at the Dover Air Force Base to Interstate 95 in the City of Wilmington. Much like their U.S... |
Delaware City, Delaware Delaware City, Delaware Delaware City is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The population was 1,695 at the 2010 census. It is a small port town on the eastern terminus of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and is the location of the ferry to Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island.-Geography:Delaware City is... |
39°33′30"N 75°34′57"W |
External links
- Chesapeake & Delaware Canal—official site
- Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse Project - Bethel Bridge Light
- Canal representation at Wikimapia.org