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   DIR Return to: Erie Canal & Embankment Dam Integrity
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       #Post#: 816--------------------------------------------------
       Embankment Dam Maintenance 101 - Grass Care
   DIR By: Doug K
       Date: October 10, 2019, 5:48 pm
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       Some people said the Canal Corporation couldn't keep the new
       Embankment Grass mowed... no prior experience
       Some people said that embankment grass was too hard to maintain,
       too much work, the Canal Corp couldn't rise up to the task.
       Some people said the embankments are too steep to cut.... all
       wrong.
       The Canal Corporation came to Brockport today to try out a new
       possible solution for Erie Canal Embankment Maintenance.. and no
       one would have ever guessed how.  Two Canal Corp workers pulled
       up and unloaded a remote controlled embankment grass robotic
       mower... I kid you not.
       [attachimg=1]
       One person was there because OSHA requires two on all jobs of
       this type.. he helped pre-check the embankment, find rocks and
       field questions from folks using the Canal Service Road. He told
       me they are trying this new tool, a rental, on the tallest,
       steepest & longest dams they have cleared so far...and this
       robot cutter seems to handle it all.
       Here they are trying to mow down a huge amount of growth near
       the edge of the toe drain.. note the "blue tree"
       [attachimg=2]
       Now I bet some of you are saying... did you get a video?
       Of course: here's three:
       Here they are cutting the top of the slope
  HTML https://drive.google.com/open?id=1cnu6ixu5RAd2X9_eRZaWKLBESsIELA4B
       Here's a view running right along the bottom
  HTML https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ba4G6ggw0j9Ku_wfNjA1CsFRlPI-53Dy
       And just as a reminder... they are working on embankment dams,
       here's the view from above
  HTML https://drive.google.com/open?id=1cD3_XhvAFypp_qxt2Wr-l_Obm5SVF9H7
       These embankments here have a 3:1 slope but the robotic mower
       has already done an embankment that was close to 70 degrees in
       Middleport area... it is 73 feet tall as well. Here's a nice
       Before & After of what this little robotic cutter does.
       [attachimg=3]
       So,, no one riding the mower, no one in danger of a roll-over
       accident, and it's run by joystick like an RC Model Car by
       someone walking along the top of the embankment. The Canal Corp
       workers told me they are looking into a similar model with GPS
       enabled control, like how farming is done these days.
       What a good idea, after all since NY Power Authority has taken
       over the Canal Corporation and the NYS Canal System they have
       been growing a fresh crop of Safe Embankment Dams right through
       our home towns.
       In case you were wondering what a SAFE earthen embankment looks
       like, along the Erie Canal... here it is:
       [attachimg=4]
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