Lehigh Canal
The Lehigh Canal is an inland waterway built to bring the transportation of anthracite coal from the Lehigh Valley to buyers in the northeast, particularly Philadelphia . When larger deposits of anthracite coal were discovered, the Lehigh Coal Mine Company was founded to bring the coal across the Lehigh River to the Delaware River and on to consumers in Philadelphia via the connection to the Pennsylvania Canal (Delaware Division) in Easton .
history
The Lehigh Canal was planned by the engineer Canvass White , who had also constructed the Erie Canal, built in New York from 1827-1829 . The so advanced navigability at Lehigh River extended over 74 km between Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe ) and Easton, wherein 52 -locks , eight weirs , eight dams and six aqueducts enabled ships, m overcomes a height difference of more than 105th A connection across the Delaware River to the Morris Canal through New Jersey allowed for more direct shipping to New York City .
In the 1830s the canal was extended 42 km to White Haven . Here, a height difference of around 180 m was overcome by 20 dams and 29 locks.
The greatest transport performance on the canal was achieved in 1855 when more than a million tons of cargo were transported. However, competition from the rise of the railways and a flood disaster on June 4, 1862 were steps towards the canal's decline. The canal was used as a transportation route until the 1940s, around a decade longer than other similar canals, and was the last working canal with towpath in North America. Most of the canal was sold in 1962 to private and public organizations that use the canal for recreational purposes.
Several sections of the canal were inscribed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. A 13 km segment of the towpath from Freemansburg via Bethlehem to Allentown has been converted into a path for walkers and cyclists. It runs along the river and a railway line that is still in operation. A section at Jim Thorpe is open to recreational boats, as are other short sections. Parts of the canal and towpath have been worn out by the weather and are unsafe.
See also
- Pennsylvania Canal (Delaware Division) , a branch line on the Delaware River that connected Philadelphia.
- Morris Canal , a New Jersey canal connecting New York City that crosses the Delaware River at Phillipsburg .
Web links
- National Canal Museum: Lehigh Navigation
- Historical photographs of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Canal
- Delaware & Lehigh Canal State Heritage Corridor
- Lehigh Canal History . National Park Service website
Coordinates: 40 ° 46 ′ 9 ″ N , 75 ° 36 ′ 13 ″ W.