Building the Great Embankment

Building the Great Embankment. . , Bridging the Irondequoit Valley posed a great challenge for James Geddes, Assistant EngI neer on the Erie Canal. In 1816, Geddes planned an embankment built partly on natural ridges and partly artificial, that was almost a mile long and 70 feet high. Gedde's engineers revised the proposed location and the embankment was built downstream of Mann's Mills (indicated on the map by the dashed red line). They also built a culvert 245 feet long by 26 feet wide to channel the creek under the huge berm. This enormous undertaking, known as the Great Embankment, required hundreds of laborers and was finished entirely in 1822., By 1836, the canal was becoming obsolete, overwhelmed by traffic and the need for larger canal boats. The Enlarged Erie Canal (dotted purple line) completed in 1850 and built on top of the Clinton's Ditch prism, was 3 feet deeper and 30 feet wider than the earlier canal and eliminated a bend west of the culvert which was too sharp for the longer and newer canal barges., The last enlargement of the Erie Canal-known as the Erie Barge Canal (dashed orange line), was begun in 1909 and required a straight embankment across the Irondequoit Valley that allowed 2,000-ton barges to navigate the system. Completed and opened in 1912, it witnessed a disastrous break a few months later that washed out the embankment and the 320-foot long culvert. Temporary measures sealed the break and commerce resumed, but it took six years to fully rebuild the structure., Since then, one other break occurred in October, 1974 and that was due to human error. The collapse devastated Brook Hollow Street and parts of the neighborhood, causing tremendous damage but fortunately, no fatalities., For more information, please visit www.nyscanals.gov., Photo and Illustration Captions: , Geddes' proposed Irondequoit crossing (1816) and its three approximate locations. Courtesy: NYS Archives, Building the Barge Canal trough, 1911. Courtesy: NYS Archives, Scene of the 1912 embankment collapse. Courtesy: NYS Archives . This historical marker was erected by Erie Canalway Trail. It is Near Pittsford in Monroe County New York