Engineering Marvel

Engineering Marvel. . ”On June 10, 1838, a boat laden with forty tons of merchandise was carried through the Lehigh navigation from Mauch Chunk to White Haven in fourteen hours, and drawn by one set of horses, and that the locks on said navigation are of a capacity to pass boats of one-hundred-fifty tons burden.” , Samuel Breck, N. Beach, and Owen Rice , inspectors, Pennsylvania Canal Commission, The ruins of Lock 22 that you see illustrate several original construction details., Lock 22 provides an opportunity to view the inside of a lock. From this perspective, you can marvel at the advanced construction of the time and feel the cool air that has replaced the cool water that filled and emptied this stone and wood structure. Water flowing from the arched-shaped conduit prevented boats from crashing against the lock doors as water gushed in from upstream. Notice that the stones of the 20-foot-high lock walls are fitted together without mortar , men simply fitted stones together., The canals, dams and locks were built with simple tools, man power, and mule power. The workers, immigrants from Germany, Ireland, Wales and Scotland, slept on rough pine board bunks and spent up to 8 months working in the water., After the flood of 1862, the uninhibited growth of nature transformed the former canal stretches, including the area behind this lock at Mud Run, into a specialized wildlife and plant habitat.