Welcome to another exciting episode of Behind the Park. My name is Francis and
I'm an interpretation Ranger intern with the student Conservation Association and
today we're not gonna take you to just one site northern canal walkway not two
sites hydroelectric plant but three Pawtucket gatehouse exciting sights here at
Lowell National Historical Park
Our first sight for today is the Pawtucket gatehouse. Follow me inside!
Built in 1848, the Pawtucket gatehouse acts as an entrance to the northern
canal and as a control point for the canal system as a whole.
Let's turn to Francis for more information, Francis. Here is the northern
canal engineered by James B Francis. Remember him? Show the clip. You guys didn't bring the clip?
This massive project took one thousand men over 18 months to complete and was the
final addition to the 5.6 miles of canals here in Lowell.
This canal is a hundred feet wide twenty feet deep and increases the flow of water in the Lowell canal
system by 50%. In order to complete the northern canal James B Francis ordered
the construction of the great river wall. This enormous wall took hundreds
and thousands of pounds of hydraulic cement and stands at thirty five feet tall
Thanks Francis! Sitting behind me is the very first Francis turbine. It was built in
1848 with the express purpose of raising and lowering the ten six and a half
ton sluice gates that sit underneath this building. As water falls on top of
the turbines it spins a set of gears that are connected to leather belts that
raise and lower the gates underneath. Did you know that James B Francis was not
only an engineer but he was also a botanist. He..
Now you showed the clip?
Because Lowell was a planned industrial city the Boston associates incorporated green
spaces into the city to make sure that the workers were able to connect with nature.
In addition to going to church on Sundays workers also took leisurely
strolls along this prominade. The water level in the canals was constantly
measured and monitored by the workers in this gatehouse. If more water was needed
they would switch the lever to the open position and gauging the mechanism
raising the gate and if less water was needed
they would do the opposite switch it to the shop position lowering the gate and
decreasing the amount of water going through and these gates are still used today by a hydro
electric plant. Now that you've seen the Pawtucket gatehouse let's walk along the
northern canal to the hydroelectric plant
We're here at the Eldridge field power plant where the northern canal flows through turbines
creating enough energy to power 20,000 homes daily.
The hydro turbines operated ninety-three percent efficiency compared to 35 to 50 percent efficiency for gas
and fossil fuels. The northern canal and the Pawtucket gatehouse were two crucial
components to Lowell's success as an industrial city
When water levels permit, the northern canal walkway is open to visitors. For more
information please visit us at www.nps.gov/Lowell. I'm Francis and thank you
for joining us for another exciting episode of Behind the Park.
was connected to this one hundred foot long leather belt the cows must have
been really big back then huh