Enlarged Canal & Lock

Enlarged Canal and Lock. Schoharie Crossing. , When New York State began enlarging the Erie Canal in the mid-1830s, it became the center of a bitter controversy over the use of public monies for internal improvements. This may explain why the state legislature did not properly fund the project. A financial panic in 1837 compounded the difficulties. The fiscal situation became so severe, that the state legislature passed the Stop Law of 1842, which halted all public works projects until a special tax on real and personal estates insured their funding., James Ott, the contractor for Lock 29, or Empire Lock, personally borrowed money to pay off debts he incurred constructing the lock. In 1845, he petitioned the Canal Board for compensation, but received only half of what he requested because the board thought his claim was padded., When completed, Lock 29 had two side-by-side lock chambers, which allowed boats going in opposite directions to lock-through at the same time. The size of the lock determined the size of the barges that could pass through. The original Erie Canal's locks were 90 feet long by 15 feet wide, while the Enlarged Erie's locks were 110 feet by 18 feet. Almost all freight barges on the Enlarged Erie were 17½ feet wide, although their lengths varied.