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#Post#: 2658--------------------------------------------------
NYS Canal System Closed for the Season Today - Recap of 2024
DIR By: Doug K
Date: October 15, 2024, 1:57 pm
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It's October 16, 2024 and the last day of the NYS Canal
Navigation Season for Recreational Boaters, commercial vessels
may still be operating with permits.
[attachimg=1]
Hopefully it was a very good season for commerce along the
canalway system, including those more popular Ports of Call like
Lockport, Brockport & Fairport. Not sure if the NYS Canal
Authority has information on how many boaters used the waterway
this season, but hopefully the waterway had plenty of motor &
human powered watercraft traffic.
It's been a busy year along the Erie Canal, between the work
being done by the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to complete
much needed inspections of canal structures to the normal
maintenance that is performed by the New York Canal Corporation
(NYCC) to keep the waterway open for travel. We have reviewed
the online information for all canal related activity and broken
it down below. All of this information is available on the Canal
Corporation website in their Notice to Mariners (NTM) webpage.
HTML https://www.canals.ny.gov/Boating-Information/Canal-Alerts
There were a total of 210 notices this season on the NTM page,
that cover everything from general Canal information to Canal
events, Repairs, Weather issues & Closures. The number of NTMs
seems about the same as 2023, with a slight shift in what the
main issues were, and where the Canal Corporation dedicated more
of it's resources.
Here's a breakdown of the numbers:
30% Lock Related Issues - From stuck lock gates to fill valve
issues this was the largest issue that resulted in generating
NTMs this season. Some mechanical and quite a few electrical
issues caused slight delays in navigation, or width restrictions
for vessels into locks were the two main repairs. Now that NYPA
has taken over the operational side of the Canal System its
hopeful that more electrical related updates to the hardware
will happen.
10% Canal Inspections - Whether it was for bridges or lock, or
embankments there were quite a few NTMs this season, many were
for underwater Inspections which results in a No Wake Zone
restriction. This is part of the work that NYPA took on to
answer a 2015 NYS Comptroller's Report that the NYS Canal System
was very lax in it's routine inspections of canal structures &
safety concerns had become an issue. This was also a very large
component of last year's activities, they may be close to
meeting the required inspections now.
5% Lift Bridge Issues - This activity mostly affects the western
end of the Erie Canal, as that's where these unique bridges are
found. Some were mechanical, many were simply power loss
related, and in most cases were repaired within a day or so.
There are still many active bridge replacements going on, most
notably the 2 year project in Brockport.
5% Floating Debris (and bodies) - More falling tree issues in
2024 that stopped all traffic at times both in the Fairport
area, and Spencerport. With the slow restart of the Earthen
Embankment Integrity Program, which is slated to clean up the
"tree & invasive vegetation issues" on the Canal System, this
was something that could have been avoided. Special note, police
activities closed the canal in local areas 3 times this year,
twice it was to recover bodies floating in the waterway in
Holley & Hulberton. No not cows, these were human. We have
covered these in a prior post on the ECNA Forum.
The bulk of NTMs left cover everything from high & low water
issues, to special notices for firework displays & rowing event,
and with all of the rainfall we had in 2024 there were many
issues with navigation buoys off-station or extinguished
lighting. As some know there are still sections of the Canal
System that ran at reduced water levels due to safety concerns
with leaking embankments. Hopefully that issue will be resolved
with the restart of the Canal Corporation's restart of their
Earthen Embankment repair plans during the off-season.
For anyone interested in learning more, or if you would like to
receive information about Canal related activity, we suggest you
sign up for NTMs through this webpage
HTML https://www.canals.ny.gov/Boating-Information/Canal-Alerts/Signup
2024 was a great year along the Erie Canal for many of us, and
2025 brings along the start of the Erie Canal Bicentennial
Birthday events. Hopefully the work that the NY Canal
Corporation & Power Authority are trying to get some to
rehabilitate & refurbish the Canal System will be completed in
time. Their dedication to restoring the Erie waterway to it's
"like new" condition is what will insure the Erie can become a
sustainable navigation system into the 21st century.
Maybe these folks on Facebook say it best...
[attachimg=2]
Hopefully the 200th birthday will be accompanied by a life-size
re-creation of an early Canal Boat made entirely of cake,
frosted in the Blue & Gold colors of NY State, including
life-size chocolate covered candy mules.
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