Six Mile Creek Aqueduct
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The Miami & Erie Canal

Six Mile Creek Aqueduct, also, The Miami and Erie Canal. . , Six Mile Creek Aqueduct. Canal aqueducts provide transportation of canal waters over natural waterways, allowing for reliable boat passage. The multi-arch masonry and formed concrete flume of the Six Mile Creek Aqueduct create a unique bi-level structure with the upper level carrying the towpath while the canal traverses the lower level. Stoplogs. set against the outer archways face. manage the canal's water level. resulting in a cascade of water into the creek below. In 2018 and 2019, the aqueduct suffered a series of failures due to deterioration and exceptional rain events. With assistance from local and state agencies, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources prevented complete loss of the structure and successfully restored the aqueduct., The Miami and Erie Canal. Completed in 1845, the Miami and Erie Canal served as the primary transportation artery between western Lake Erie and the Ohio River before the railroad era. Built entirely by hand. laborers constructed the canal using shovels, picks, wheelbarrows, and horse and mule-drawn carts. The Miami and Erie Canal linked Ohio farmers and merchants with the world and expanded this region's commerce and population. Increased access to new markets for Ohio products expanded agricultural production and allowed local people to acquire goods from all over the United States more efficiently. Unfortunately. declining use. competition from the railroads. Increased use of motor vehicles. and the 1913 flood all contributed to the atrophy and eventual abandonment of Ohio's canals.