Following the Flow– Stop 5

Seneca River/ Montezuma/ Richmond Aqueduct

Sitting on the banks of the Seneca River just west of Montezuma are the remains of one of the most

important structures on the Enlarged Erie Canal. At 894 feet in length, the Seneca River Aqueduct (aka

the Montezuma or the Richmond) was the second longest aqueduct on the system. It was opened to

traffic in 1856 and was in service until 1917.

To understand why the building of the aqueduct was so important, we need to step back in time to

1820 and the first Erie Canal. When the builders of the canal reached the Seneca River, they were

faced with the largest obstacle they had seen yet, the Seneca River and the Cayuga Marshes. The deep

mucky river bottom, the slow moving river and the bugs all created a situation that they didn’t wish to

deal with. Early plans called for the canal to enter the river and for boats to head upriver following the

Seneca and Clyde Rivers to the west. But this plan was soon changed and a river crossing was devised.

The plan was to build the canal in a manner that it connected with the river. In a sense, Lock 62 on the

eastern bank of the river was the end of the canal. When the boat passed through the lock, it had left

the artificial canal environment and entered into an environment that man had much less control over,

the natural river. Crossing a river by floating upon its waters is called a “slack-water” crossing, and while

it was not a desirable way to perform such a crossing, it was not unusual either. A small dam backed

water up in the river, forming a pool of still water. The pulling animals walked over the river on a bridge

and the boat was pulled through the river to the other side. This can be seen in this drawing made in

1825. (taken from the book, Bond of Union, Gerard Koeppel, 2009)

The Seneca River inter-

sects with the Clyde River

at this place, creating a

series of open channels.

The canal had to cross

over two miles of open

waters and wetlands be-

fore it reached the west-

ern dry lands. The

wooden bridge in the

drawing was 1440 feet

long. The problem with

slack-water crossings is

that rivers flood in wet

seasons and get very low

in dry seasons. In high

water, the land and canal

were under water, and

during the dry months,

boats had to be “lightened

up” to make it across the river. For 30 years, the canal commissioners fought with the river, and most of

the time they lost or at least fought to an uneasy truce. The only good solution was a bridge.

At the time, Van R. Richmond was the canal engineer in charge of the middle section of the canal. He

made plans to radically change the canal by building a high embankment and aqueduct that would carry

the canal over the river and wetlands, eliminating the troublesome crossing. The new embankment

would raise the level of the canal to equal the elevation of Lock 51 at Port Byron. By doing this, it

would also do away with four locks, saving time and construction dollars. At first, the plan was to build

two smaller aqueducts, one for the Seneca River and one for the Clyde, and in 1849, work began on

both aqueducts. Whether it was money, time, construction difficulties or all of these, the plans were

changed to build one large aqueduct and then move the flow of the rivers to pass under it.

The new aqueduct had a footprint that covered 2 acres. There were 4464 bearing piles driven into the

muck, some as long as 30 feet long. On top of the piles a wooden floor was constructed. This floor cre-

ated a level surface for the masons to work and build the stone arches, piers and towpath. The arches

were 22 feet wide and 11 feet tall and there were 31 in total crossing the river. Once the stonework was

finished, the wooden trunk, containing over a million board feet of wood, was built.

When the work on the

aqueduct was done, the

Clyde River was turned

to join the Seneca, and

the rest of the canal em-

bankment to the west was

finished. By the spring of

1856, the aqueduct was

ready for use.

There were five of these

long aqueducts built on

the Erie. Two were over

the Mohawk near Albany

and Schenectady, one

was over the Schoharie

Creek near Amsterdam,

one was over the Gene-

see in Rochester. Due to

the high, fast water in the

Genesee, the entire struc-

ture was built of stone.

All the rest had wooden

trunks. Of these, only the

Rochester aqueduct re-

mains intact, now being

used as a road bridge. All

the rest were removed to

make way for the dredg-

ing of the barge canal or

to allow high water and

ice to flow.

Route

31

Pre

– 1

854

route

of th

e

Cly

de R

iver

1862 E

nla

rged

Canal

1917 B

arg

e C

anal

1820-1

854

river c

rossin

g

Rem

ain

s o

f Aqueduct

Kip

p’s

Isla

nd

Let’s get back to the Mon-

tezuma Aqueduct. Here

are the remaining 7 arches

as seen from a boat in

2005. This part of the aq-

ueduct was not in the way

of dredging the barge ca-

nal, so it was not disman-

tled. An 8th arch has col-

lapsed. Another 3 arches

remain on the west side of

the river.

The middle photo shows

the end of the aqueduct as

seen head-on. The wooden

trunk that carried the canal

water was built to fit inside

the U shape created by the

stonework.

The bottom period photo

shows the towpath and ca-

nal. Note the tops of the

piers and the Seneca River

just beyond. Although it is

difficult to see, the river is

about 20 feet lower than

the surface of the canal.

No matter what the length

of the aqueduct, they all

serve the same purpose, to

carry the canal over an

stream, river or valley.

There is only one aque-

duct on the barge canal,

that being the Medina Aq-

ueduct in the western re-

gion of the state.

The enlarged canal had 32

aqueducts of various sizes.

Many aqueduct remains

can still be found across

the State along the route of

the enlarged Erie Canal.