NYS Canal System is getting repaired after closing for the season
WATERFORD, N.Y. (NEWS10) - The 2024 navigation season for recreational vessels to operate on the New York State Canal System concluded on Wednesday, October 16. New York State Canal Corporation workers will now begin winter maintenance on the 118-year-old infrastructure surrounding the water.
Brian Stratton, the Director of the New York State Canal Corporation, said that this season was about average in regards to the amount of activity taking place on the water. Nearly $400 million was generated for the Capital Region.
"During the season that just wrapped up on Wednesday, they tallied about 74,000 lockings along the 57 locks," Stratton said.
That number does not account for vessels that navigate within a given pool and is rather the number that represents the number of boats that pass through a lock at any given time.
Starting in November, the corporation will drain sections of the system for winter maintenance projects at our locks. Each winter, on average, eight of 57 locks are rehabilitated.
In the greater Capital Region, the following locks will be rehabilitated this non-navigation winter season: Champlain Canal Lock 8 in Fort Edward, Erie Canal Lock 2 in Waterford, Erie Canal Lock 5 in Waterford, and the Erie Canal Lock 14 in Canajoharie.
The New York Power Authority invested approximately $145 million into the Canal system this year for maintenance, operations, and the capital improvements required to keep the infrastructure safe and operable.
Some of that money goes to updating infrastructure, fixing bridges and walls, and pumping locks. Stratton said that a big focus this year is the drainage of the locks for maintenance.
"Even though some of them have been rebuilt, over the years, they still need a lot of work," Stratton said. "There is moving pieces, there's wood, there are valves and it's all of the infrastructure that was state of the year in 1918."
The original Erie Canal opened on October 26, 1825 – New York State will host the World Canals Conference in Buffalo in 2025 as part of the Erie Canal’s bicentennial celebration.
Conditions permitting, the New York State Canal system will open for its 201st consecutive season of navigation on Friday, May 16, 2025.