Canal Lock #9

Canal Lock #9. . Lock #9 at Lapidum was one of 29 numbered locks on the 45-mile-long Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal. From 1839 until 1894, the canal was a major route for commerce between central Pennsylvania and the Chesapeake Bay. The locks were used to raise canal barges in a series of steps from tidewater Havre de Grace, Md. to an elevation of 231 feet at Wrightsville. Pa. , An outlet lock was built in 1844 to connect the canal with the river. A portion of the lock can still be found in the barge ramp parking area. , Locks were constructed of large blocks of locally-quarried stone. The lock's chamber (the area between the lock gates) was approximately 170-feet long, 16 ½-feet wide and was lined with wood planking. The lock's length enabled two canal barges to be raised or lowered at the same time. Barges traveling upstream were pulled into the lock and the gates were closed. Water entered the lock through sluice valves (or "wickets") in the upper lock gates. This raised the water and the canal barges until they reached the next level of the canal. The process was reversed for barges traveling downstream.