HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal (C&D Canal) is a -long, -wide and -deep
ship canal A ship canal is a canal especially intended to accommodate ships used on the oceans, seas, or lakes to which it is connected. Definition Ship canals can be distinguished from barge canals, which are intended to carry barges and other vessel ...
that connects the Delaware River with the
Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / E ...
in the states of Delaware and Maryland in the United States. In the mid‑17th century, mapmaker
Augustine Herman Augustine Herman, First Lord of Bohemia Manor (Czech: Augustin Heřman, c. 1621 – September 1686) was a Bohemian explorer, merchant and cartographer who lived in New Amsterdam and Cecil County, Maryland. In the employment of Cecil Calvert, 2nd ...
observed that these great bodies of water were separated only by a narrow strip of land. In 1764, a survey of possible water routes across the
Delmarva Peninsula The Delmarva Peninsula, or simply Delmarva, is a large peninsula and proposed state on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by the vast majority of the state of Delaware and parts of the Eastern Shore regions of Maryland and Virginia. ...
was made, but little action followed. The idea was raised again in 1788 by regional business leaders, including noted Philadelphians
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading intel ...
and
Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was a Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social reformer, humanitarian, educato ...
. Despite the beginnings of a commercial venture in 1802—coincident with
Canal Mania Canal Mania was the period of intense canal building in England and Wales between the 1790s and 1810s, and the speculative frenzy that ensued in the early 1790s.British Canals. The Standard History. Joseph Boughey and Charles Hadfield. Backgro ...
in England and Wales—it wasn't until 1829 before the C&D Canal Company could, at last, announce the waterway "open for business". Its construction cost of $3.5 million (equivalent to $ million in ) made it one of the most expensive canal projects of its time. In the present era, the C&D Canal is owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District. The project office in Chesapeake City, Maryland, is also the site of the C&D Canal Museum and Bethel Bridge Lighthouse. The canal saves approximately 300 miles on the route between Wilmington or Philadelphia on the Delaware River and
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
on Chesapeake Bay, avoiding a course around the Delmarva Peninsula. The canal is itself a significant landmark and cultural boundary for the state of Delaware, considered a divide between the urbanized northern portion of the state and the rural southern portion known locally as "Lower Delaware", and demarcates an unofficial northern limit to the Delmarva Peninsula.


Early years

In the mid‑17th century,
Augustine Herman Augustine Herman, First Lord of Bohemia Manor (Czech: Augustin Heřman, c. 1621 – September 1686) was a Bohemian explorer, merchant and cartographer who lived in New Amsterdam and Cecil County, Maryland. In the employment of Cecil Calvert, 2nd ...
, a mapmaker and Prague native who had served as an envoy for the Dutch, observed that two great bodies of water, the Delaware River and Chesapeake Bay, were separated only by a narrow strip of land. Herman proposed that a waterway be built to connect the two. More than a century passed before any action was taken. In 1764, a survey of possible water routes across the
Delmarva Peninsula The Delmarva Peninsula, or simply Delmarva, is a large peninsula and proposed state on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by the vast majority of the state of Delaware and parts of the Eastern Shore regions of Maryland and Virginia. ...
was made. One was proposed by Thomas Gilpin, Sr., a Quaker from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who, along with other members of the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
, sought a waterway to shorten the shipping distance from the
Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / E ...
to Philadelphia. He proposed a canal across the Delmarva Peninsula to connect the
Chester River The Chester River is a major tributary of the Chesapeake Bay on the Delmarva Peninsula. It is about long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 and its watersh ...
at modern-day
Millington, Maryland Millington is a town in Kent County, Maryland, Kent and Queen Anne's County, Maryland, Queen Anne's counties in the U.S. state of Maryland. The population was 642 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Millington is the head of navigation f ...
, to the Delaware River. He even bought of land, largely in and around Millington, but the canal would not become a reality for decades. The idea was raised again in 1788 by regional business leaders, including noted Philadelphians
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading intel ...
and
Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was a Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social reformer, humanitarian, educato ...
. The canal would reduce, by nearly 300 miles (500 km), the water routes between Philadelphia and
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
. In 1802, following actions by the legislatures of Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Company was incorporated, with merchant and banker
Joseph Tatnall Joseph Tatnall (1740–1813) was an American businessman, who was a prominent Quaker merchant, miller, and banker in Wilmington, Delaware. Early life The only son of Edward and Elizabeth (Pennock) Tatnall, Joseph was born in Wilmington on November ...
as president. More surveys followed, and in 1804, construction of the canal began under
Benjamin Latrobe Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe (May 1, 1764 – September 3, 1820) was an Anglo-American neoclassical architect who emigrated to the United States. He was one of the first formally trained, professional architects in the new United States, dra ...
. The work included 14  locks to connect the
Christina River The Christina River is a tributary of the Delaware River, approximately 35 miles (56 km) long, in northern Delaware in the United States, also flowing through small areas of southeastern Pennsylvania and northeastern Maryland. Near i ...
in Delaware with the Elk River at Welch Point, Maryland, but the project was halted two years later for lack of funds.


Construction

The canal company was reorganized in 1822, and new surveys determined that more than $2 million in capital was needed to resume construction. Eventually, the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appa ...
purchased $100,000 in stock, the
State of Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean ...
, $50,000; and Delaware, $25,000. The federal government invested $450,000, with the remainder subscribed by the public. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers played a vital yet unofficial role for the canal company in 1823 and 1824, providing two senior officers to help determine a canal route. The engineer officers and two civilian engineers recommended a new route with four locks, extending from Newbold's Landing Harbor (now Delaware City), westward to the Back Creek branch of the Elk River, Maryland. Canal construction resumed in April 1824, and within several years some 2,600 men were digging and hauling dirt from the ditch. Laborers toiled with pick and shovel at the immense construction task, working for an average daily wage of 75 cents. The swampy marshlands along the canal's planned route proved a great impediment to progress; workers continuously battled slides along the "ditch's" soft slopes. It was 1829 before the C&D Canal Company could, at last, announce the waterway "open for business". Its construction cost of $3.5 million made it one of the most expensive canal projects of its time. In 1825, due to the efforts of
Benjamin Wright Benjamin Wright (October 10, 1770 – August 24, 1842) was an American civil engineer who was chief engineer of the Erie Canal and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. In 1969, the American Society of Civil Engineers declared him the "Father of America ...
, the company fired the canal's chief engineer, John Randel Jr., who had surveyed its route and built the difficult eastern section. Randel sued the company for breach of contract, and in 1834 a jury returned an award to Randel of $226,885.84 (), a tremendous amount for the time. The canal company's appeals went as high as the United States Supreme Court, which affirmed the award. The company attempted to avoid paying the judgment, but the state legislatures of both Maryland and Delaware passed bills requiring the canal company to pay off its debts within five years. The huge award almost bankrupted the company.


1829 to 1919

The Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River were now connected by a navigation channel measuring nearly long, deep, wide at the waterline and wide along the channel bottom. A covered wooden bridge at Summit, Delaware, spanned the canal across the "Deep Cut", measuring between abutments. The bridge floor was above the channel bottom. Three wooden swing bridges also crossed the canal. Locks to pass vessels through the waterway's various levels were constructed at
Delaware City, Delaware Delaware City is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The population was 1,695 at the 2010 census. It is a small port town on the eastern terminus of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and is the location of the Forts Ferry Cros ...
and St. Georges, Delaware, and two at Chesapeake City. Each measured long and wide and was eventually enlarged to in length and in width. Teams of mules and horses towed freight and passenger barges, schooners and
sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular s ...
s through the canal. Cargoes included practically every useful item of daily life: lumber, grain, farm products, fish, cotton,
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dead ...
, iron, and whiskey. Packet ships were eventually established to move freight through the waterway. One such enterprise—the
Ericsson Line A. H. Bull Steamship Company was a shipping company and passenger liner service founded in New York City in 1902 by Archibald H. Bull (1848-1920). Service started with shipping between New York and Florida. His fleet of ships then added service ...
that operated between Baltimore and Philadelphia, and continued to carry passengers and freight through the canal into the 1940s. The cargo tonnage peaked in 1872 with more than 1.3 million tons transiting the canal. Along the route across the top of the Delmarva Peninsula, at least six lighthouses warned barges and other vessels passing through the canal when they were approaching bridges and locks. These small wooden lighthouses had had red lanterns mounted atop them. The Ericsson Line of steamboats originated as steamers built for freight only; however, the line converted to passenger boats during 1876 at the time of the
Centennial Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...
in Philadelphia as the demand for travel increased. The Baltimore and Philadelphia Steamship Companies, which operated the Ericsson line, built and furnished ships with seventy to eighty staterooms in addition to the freight facilities. In turn, these ships grew from less than one hundred to more than six hundred tons and greatly increased travel from Baltimore to Philadelphia. The Ericsson Line was named after its first ship, Ericsson, which was named after John Ericsson who developed the screw propeller that was installed on the vessel specifically designed for the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. Ericsson was built at Reanie & Neafie's shipyard in Philadelphia by Anthony Groves, Jr. The ship, finished in 1843, was in length and weighed eighty tons. It began operations in 1844 under the direction of Captain Noah F. Ireland. The Ericsson Line operated out of Baltimore's No. 1 Light Street Pier for 75 years, serving passenger and freight demands throughout the waterway with thirty registered steamers. The Ericsson Line's success brought utility and prosperity to the canal and promoted an expansion of trade by means of its growth and connection to the Atlantic Deeper Waterways Association of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. Loss of water in the locks was a problem from early on. As boats passed through at Chesapeake City, the equivalent of a full lock of water was lost to the lower-lying portion of the canal. This loss, compounded by leakage through the canal banks and normal evaporation, made it necessary to devise a means of lifting water into the project's upper part. A steam operated pump was purchased in 1837 to raise water from Back Creek, and in 1852 a steam engine and large
waterwheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or bucke ...
were installed at the pumphouse in Chesapeake City. Measuring in diameter and wide, the iron and wood waterwheel had 12 troughs which filled with water as it turned; the water then spilled over the hub into the raceway and into the uppermost canal level. By 1854 a second steam engine was in use. The two engines consumed eight tons of coal daily while lifting 170 tons of water per minute into the canal. The waterwheel and steam engines remained in continuous use through the mid‑1920s. Throughout the 19th century, the canal's use continued to change with the New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Rail Road being its only major competitor. Steam power brought larger and deeper-draft vessels that could not pass through the restricting locks. By the turn of the 20th century the decline in canal traffic and cost of operation and repairs reduced canal profits. Clearly a larger, wider, and deeper waterway was needed. At the time, however, little thought was given to improving the existing canal. New companies were formed instead, considering at least six new canal routes, but committees and commissions appointed to study the issue failed to agree on a plan. In 1906
President Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
appointed a new commission to report on the feasibility of converting the canal to a "free and open waterway."


1920s to 1970s

In 1919 the federal government bought the canal for $2.5 million and designated it the "Intra-coastal Waterway Delaware River to Chesapeake Bay, Delaware and Maryland." The purchase included six bridges and a railroad span owned by the
Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
. These were replaced during the 1920s by four vertical lift spans and a new railroad bridge. Responsibility for operating, maintaining, and improving the waterway was assigned to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District. In the mid-1920s, work began to move the eastern entrance at Delaware City several miles south to Reedy Point, Delaware. All locks (except the one at Delaware City) were removed, and the waterway was converted to a sea-level operation at deep and wide. These improvements cost $10 million. Two stone jetties at the new eastern entrance were completed in 1926. The sole remaining lock at Delaware City — a stone structure, resting on wooden underpinnings, with a wooden floor — would eventually be preserved and, in 1975, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The "new" canal opened in May 1927 with great celebration, even as plans were underway for further expansion to accommodate ever larger ships. The Philadelphia District assumed operation of the canal in 1933. Between 1935 and 1938, the channel was again improved, deepened to and widened to at a cost of nearly $13 million. The project was also expanded to include a federal navigation channel deep and wide for some in the Upper Chesapeake Bay, from the Elk River to Pooles Island. Through the years, as the sizes and tonnages of ships using the canal continued to grow, accidents and one‑way traffic restrictions strained the canal's capacity. Between 1938 and 1950 alone, eight ships collided with bridges. In 1954, the United States Congress authorized further expansion of the channel to wide and deep. These improvements, begun in the 1960s, were completed in the mid‑1970s. New bridges to accommodate highway traffic crossing the canal also became necessary as deepening and widening progressed. Two mechanical lift bridges at St. Georges and Chesapeake City were toppled by ship collisions and replaced in the 1940s with high-level highway spans (the former, the St. Georges Bridge, has largely been bypassed by the new
Senator William V. Roth Jr. Bridge The Senator William V. Roth Jr. Bridge (originally the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Bridge and also referred to as the Roth Bridge) is a concrete and steel cable-stayed bridge that spans the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal near St. Georges, Delawar ...
, opened in 1995). Two other high-level vehicular traffic bridges,
Summit Bridge The Summit Bridge carries Delaware Routes 71 and 896 across the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. The bridge also carries Delaware Bicycle Route 1, a bicycle route that spans the length of the state of Delaware, across the canal. The Summit Bridge ...
in 1960 and
Reedy Point Bridge The Reedy Point Bridge carries Delaware Route 9 across the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal in Delaware City, Delaware, USA. A two-lane cantilever bridge similar in appearance to the Platt Bridge in Southwest Philadelphia (near Philadelphia Internati ...
in 1968, were constructed as part of the 1954 improvement authorization. In 1966, a new railroad
lift bridge A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck. The vertical lift offers several benefits over other movable bridges such as the bascule and swi ...
(the
Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Lift Bridge The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Lift Bridge is a railroad bridge with vertical-lift span in the U.S. state of Delaware. It carries a Delmarva Central Railroad rail line across the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. This bridge was built by the U.S. ...
) was also completed by the Corps and turned over to the Pennsylvania Railroad to carry freight across the canal. The railroad and Summit spans were recognized by the
American Institute of Steel Construction The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) is a not-for-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal ent ...
as the most beautiful bridges of their types in the years they were completed. After the modern sea-level canal opened in 1927, pilot boats operated by the Army Corps of Engineers worked at each end of the waterway, one assigned to Reedy Point on the Delaware River and the other stationed at Town Point on the Elk River in Maryland. These patrol boats met incoming ships, checked traffic, did patrols, and sometimes made rescues. But modernization had arrived on Canal as closed circuit televisions, radar, and advanced in radio communications made the work of meeting incoming boats and other tasks obsolete. On Nov. 19, 1968, the work of the patrol boats was retired, and modern, centralized technology took over the tasks.


Post-1970s

Today's canal is a modern sea-level, electronically controlled commercial waterway, carrying 40 percent of all ship traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore. Since 1933 the Corps' Philadelphia District has managed canal and highway bridge operations from a two-story white frame building on the canal's southern bank at
Chesapeake City, Maryland Chesapeake City is a town in Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The population was 736 at the 2020 census. The town was originally named by Bohemian colonist Augustine Herman the Village of Bohemia — or Bohemia Manor — but the name w ...
. Cargo ships, tankers, container-carrying vessels (all up to
Seawaymax The term Seawaymax refers to vessels which are the maximum size that can fit through the canal locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway, linking the inland Great Lakes of North America with the Atlantic Ocean. Seawaymax vessels are in length, wide, ...
-classification), barges accompanied by tugboats, and countless recreational boats create a steady flow of traffic. Through state-of-the-art fiber optic and microwave links, dispatchers use closed-circuit television and radio systems to monitor and safely move commercial traffic through the waterway. Navigating oceangoing vessels requires extensive maritime skills, with strong currents or bad weather conditions adding to the risks. A United States Coast Guard certified pilot is required for vessels engaged in foreign trade transiting the canal, the Delaware River and Bay, and Chesapeake Bay. Many shipping firms use pilots from the Delaware River and Bay or Maryland pilots' associations. Typically a Delaware River and Bay pilot boards a ship as it passes Lewes, Delaware, entering the Delaware Bay, and guides the vessel up the bay and into the canal to Chesapeake City. A Maryland pilot then takes over and continues the ship's transit into the Chesapeake Bay to Baltimore or
Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...
. The procedure is reversed for eastbound ships. At Chesapeake City a "changing of the pilots" takes place, while the pilot launch maneuvers alongside a vessel as it continues its journey without stopping. The pilots use the ship's
gangway Broadly speaking, a gangway is a passageway through which to enter or leave. Gangway may refer specifically refer to: Passageways * Gangway (nautical), a passage between the quarterdeck and the forecastle of a ship, and by extension, a passage t ...
,
pilot ladder A pilot ladder is a highly specialized form of rope ladder, typically used on board cargo vessels for the purposes of embarking and disembarking pilots. The design and construction of the ladders is tightly specified by international regulati ...
, or port entrance to climb aboard or leave the vessel.


C&D Canal Museum

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates the C&D Canal Museum at Chesapeake City, Maryland, housed in the original canal pumphouse with a waterwheel and pumping engines. The museum illustrates the canal's history and operations. Current operations can be viewed through a television monitor affording visitors up-to-the minute locations on ships traveling through the canal. Admission is free, and the museum is open Monday-Friday year round except for government holidays. A full-sized replica of the Bethel Bridge Lighthouse is located on Corps property, a short walk from the museum. The original lighthouse was used to warn vessels of locks and bridges in the days before the 1927 canal changes made it sea level.


Crossings

The following are crossings of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal north to south and vice versa:


See also

* John Randel Jr. *
Benjamin Wright Benjamin Wright (October 10, 1770 – August 24, 1842) was an American civil engineer who was chief engineer of the Erie Canal and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. In 1969, the American Society of Civil Engineers declared him the "Father of America ...
*
List of canals in the United States The following is a list of canals in the United States: Transportation canals in operation This list includes active canals and artificial waterways that are maintained for use by boats. While some abandoned canals and drainage canals have stret ...
*
Delaware Canal The Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal, more commonly called the Delaware Canal, runs for parallel to the right bank of the Delaware River from the entry locks near the mouth of the Lehigh River and terminal end of the Lehigh Canal at E ...
– A sister canal from the mouth of the Lehigh River and canal terminus, feeding urban Philadelphia connecting with the Morris and Lehigh Canals at their respective Easton terminals. * Delaware and Raritan Canal – A New Jersey canal connection to the New York & New Jersey markets shipping primarily coal across the Delaware River. The D&R also shipped Iron Ore from New Jersey up the Lehigh. * Delaware and Schuylkill navigation company- 1791 private stock company that failed and was a predecessor to the 1815 Schuylkill Navigation company. * Delaware and Hudson Canal – Another early built coal canal as the American canal age began; contemporary with the Lehigh and the Schuylkill
navigations Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
. * Lehigh Canal – the coal canal along the Lehigh Valley that fed the United States early Industrial revolution energy needs directly and via the Delaware Canal businesses all along the forty miles to Philadelphia from
Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in, and the county seat of, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River, a river that joins the Delaware Ri ...
. * Morris Canal – Another important American Industrial Revolution canal feeding steel mills ores from Central New Jersey and coal to New York and New Jersey Markets. *
Pennsylvania Canal System The Pennsylvania Canal (or sometimes Pennsylvania Canal system) was a complex system of transportation infrastructure improvements including canals, dams, locks, tow paths, aqueducts, and viaducts. The Canal and Works were constructed and assem ...
– an ambitious collection of far-flung canals, and eventually railroads authorized early in 1826. * Schuylkill Canal – Navigation joining
Reading, PA Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and is ...
and Philadelphia. *
Schuylkill and Susquehanna Navigation Company The Schuylkill and Susquehanna Navigation Company was a limited liability corporation founded in Pennsylvania on September 29, 1791. Reprint of 1990 volume. The company was founded for the purpose of improving river navigation, which in the pos ...
- 1791 predecessor private stock company that failed. *
Union canal Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** '' ...
- 1811 private stock company that completed the "golden link between the Schuylkill and Susquehanna rivers in 1828, thereby connecting the Schuylkill Navigation company with the Pennsylvania canal in Middleton. * Guthrie Branch (C and D Canal tributary)


Footnotes


References

Notes Sources * Further reading * * *


External links

* *
Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse Project - Bethel Bridge Light
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chesapeake And Delaware Canal Locks on the National Register of Historic Places in Delaware Transportation buildings and structures in Cecil County, Maryland Transportation buildings and structures in New Castle County, Delaware Canals in Delaware Maritime history of Delaware Canals in Maryland Chesapeake Bay watershed Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks Intracoastal Waterway Ship canals Benjamin Henry Latrobe buildings and structures Canals opened in 1829 National Register of Historic Places in New Castle County, Delaware