NPS/Harpers Ferry Center The Canal Water System was designed to maintain 2-3 mph current, reducing water resistances, and a depths of 6 feet. To sustain those conditions over 184.5 miles through widely varying terrain required a finely coordinated hydraulic system. A series of feeder dams (1) impounded the river water to supply the canal, while the guard locks (2) controlled the amount of water entering the system. Culverts (3) carried streams under the canal. Water backing up at lift locks (4) was routed around them through flumes, maintaing the water level below the lock (5). Excess water could be drained off to the river through waste weirs (6) by the lockkeeper, who was responsible for the water level control structures above and below their lock. When heavy flooding threatened the canal, guard walls and guard gates (7) protected the canal. In the event of a break in the canal embankment or opening of sinkholes in the prism, the stop gates or planks that could be placed across masonary structures above and below it would limit the loss of water to that section.
|
Last updated: March 17, 2024