Editing Erie Canal (section)

==Route==
===Original Canal===
{{maplink|frame=yes|frame-align=right|frame-width=400|frame-height=200|text=The Erie Canal after the First Great Enlargement|from=Original Erie Canal.map|zoom=6|frame-lat=42.977|frame-long=-76.506}}
The Erie made use of the favorable conditions of New York's unique topography, which provided that area with the only break in the [[Appalachian Mountains|Appalachians]] south of the [[St. Lawrence River]]. The Hudson is tidal to [[Troy, New York|Troy]], and Albany is west of the Appalachians. It allowed for east–west navigation from the coast to the Great Lakes within US territory.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.rochester.edu/canal/bib/whitford/1906/Chap01.html |title=Whitford's History of New York Canals. Chapter I, First Attempts at Improvement |access-date=March 21, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081226053046/http://www.history.rochester.edu/canal/bib/whitford/1906/Chap01.html |archive-date=December 26, 2008 |df=mdy }}</ref>

The canal began on the west side of the Hudson River at Albany, and ran north to [[Watervliet, New York|Watervliet]], where the Champlain Canal branched off. At [[Cohoes, New York|Cohoes]], it climbed the escarpment on the west side of the Hudson River—16 locks rising {{convert|140|ft}}—and then turned west along the south shore of the Mohawk River, crossing to the north side at [[Crescent, New York|Crescent]] and again to the south at [[Rexford, New York|Rexford]]. The canal continued west near the south shore of the Mohawk River all the way to Rome, where the Mohawk turns north.<ref name="Finch"/>

At [[Rome, New York|Rome]], the canal continued west parallel to [[Wood Creek]], which flows westward into [[Oneida Lake]], and turned southwest and west cross-country to avoid the lake. From [[Canastota, New York|Canastota]] west, it ran roughly along the north (lower) edge of the [[Onondaga Formation|Onondaga Escarpment]], passing through Syracuse, [[Onondaga Lake]], and Rochester. Before reaching Rochester, the canal uses a series of natural ridges to cross the deep valley of [[Irondequoit Creek]]. At [[Lockport (city), New York|Lockport]] the canal turned southwest to rise to the top of the [[Niagara Escarpment]], using the ravine of [[Eighteen Mile Creek (Niagara County)|Eighteen Mile Creek]].<ref name="Finch"/>

The canal continued south-southwest to [[Pendleton, New York|Pendleton]], where it turned west and southwest, mainly using the channel of [[Tonawanda Creek]]. From the [[City of Tonawanda|Tonawanda]] south toward Buffalo, it ran just east of the Niagara River, where it reached its "Western Terminus" at Little Buffalo Creek (later it became the [[Commercial Slip]]), which discharged into the [[Buffalo River (New York)|Buffalo River]] just above its confluence with [[Lake Erie]].<ref name="Finch"/> With Buffalo's re-excavation of the Commercial Slip, completed in 2008, the Canal's original terminus is now re-watered and again accessible by boats. With several miles of the Canal inland of this location still lying under 20th-century fill and urban construction, the effective western navigable terminus of the Erie Canal is found at Tonawanda.

===Barge Canal===
[[File:Sunset over the Erie Canal in North Tonawanda, NY..jpg|thumb|Gateway Harbor in [[North Tonawanda, New York|North Tonawanda]], about {{convert|1000|ft|m}} from the present-day western terminus of the Erie Canal where it connects to the Niagara River]]
The new alignment began on the Hudson River at the border between Cohoes and [[Waterford, New York|Waterford]], where it ran northwest with five locks (the so-called "[[Waterford Flight]]"), running into the Mohawk River east of [[Crescent, New York|Crescent]]. The Waterford Flight is claimed to be one of the steepest series of locks in the world.<ref name=ASCE-RPI>{{cite web|title=Dedication of the Flight of Five Locks as a Civil Engineering Landmark (9/9/2012) |url=http://rpiasce.weebly.com/recent-asce-events.html |work=ASCE Rennselaer |publisher=American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), RPI Chapter |access-date=March 2, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216071318/http://rpiasce.weebly.com/recent-asce-events.html |archive-date=December 16, 2013 }}</ref><!-- Previous interim reference should be improved --><ref name="Finch" />{{rp|19}}<ref name="Williams" />{{rp|267}}

While the old Canal ran next to the Mohawk all the way to Rome, the new canal ran through the river, which was straightened or widened where necessary.<ref name="Finch" />{{rp|13}} At [[Ilion, New York|Ilion]], the new canal left the river for good, but continued to run on a new alignment parallel to both the river and the old canal to Rome. From Rome, the new route continued almost due west, merging with [[Fish Creek (New York)|Fish Creek]] just east of its entry into Oneida Lake.<ref name="ECAsystem" />

From Oneida Lake, the new canal ran west along the [[Oneida River]], with cutoffs to shorten the route. At [[Three Rivers, New York|Three Rivers]], the Oneida River turns northwest, and was deepened for the Oswego Canal to Lake Ontario. The new Erie Canal turned south there along the Seneca River, which turns west near Syracuse and continues west to a point in the [[Montezuma Marsh]]. There the Cayuga and Seneca Canal continued south with the Seneca River, and the new Erie Canal again ran parallel to the old canal along the bottom of the Niagara Escarpment, in some places running along the Clyde River, and in some places replacing the old canal. At [[Pittsford (village), New York|Pittsford]], southeast of Rochester, the canal turned west to run around the south side of Rochester, rather than through downtown. The canal crosses the [[Genesee River]] at the [[Genesee Valley Park]], then rejoins the old path near [[North Gates, New York|North Gates]].

From there it was again roughly an upgrade to the original canal, running west to Lockport.<ref name="NYPA" /> This reach of {{convert|64.2|mi}} from Henrietta to Lockport is called "the 60‑mile level" since there are no locks and the water level rises only {{convert|2|ft|spell=in}} over the entire segment. Diversions from and to adjacent natural streams along the way are used to maintain the canal's level. It runs southwest to [[City of Tonawanda|Tonawanda]], where the new alignment discharges into the Niagara River, which is navigable upstream to the [[New York Barge Canal]]'s Black Rock Lock and thence to the Canal's original "Western Terminus" at Buffalo's [[Erie Canal Harbor|Inner Harbor]].