'Water bridge' working for first time in more than 80 years
Bob Asanoma (right) of Liverpool pauses with friend Dave Nash (left) of N. Syracuse to make a photo of the recently restored Nine-Mile Creek Aqueduct while walking at the Camillus Erie Canal Park. This water-filled bridge carries the old Erie Canal over Nine-Mile Creek and is the only working aqueduct in the state.Camillus, NY -- Built in the first half of the 19th century then forgotten for much of the 20th century, the Erie Canal aqueduct in Camillus has a new lease on life in the 21st century.
The 144-foot-long limestone-and-wood structure opened in 1845, part of the first enlargement of the Erie Canal, said Dr. David Beebe, of Camillus, volunteer director of the Camillus Erie Canal Park. One of dozens of water bridges on the canal, it carried the waterway above and across Nine Mile Creek.
By 1922, modernization of the canal system left behind the Camillus aqueduct. It stood unused and leaking and stayed that way for more than eight decades.
However, since the 1970s, fans of the aqueduct — including Beebe and his wife, Liz, — have been working toward its restoration.
After spending $1.9 million in federal, state and privately raised money, the aqueduct was restored, making Camillus Erie Canal Park’s aqueduct the only navigable aqueduct in the state, Beebe said.
The park is not connected to the canal system. Instead, there’s a land-locked two-mile stretch of water. It’s open for use by canoes, kayaks and the canal boats built by park volunteers.
The aqueduct is a piece of “Roman Empire technology,” said Daniel Ward, curator at the Erie Canal Museum, in Syracuse.
The Camillus aqueduct, he said, “is one of the wonders of the world in this part of the world.”
Contact Charles McChesney at cmcchesney@syracuse.com.