Editing Erie Canal (section)

===First enlargement===
[[File:Camillus-aqueduct1.JPG|thumb|Aqueduct over Nine Mile Creek north of [[Camillus (town), New York|Camillus, New York]], built in 1841 and abandoned {{circa|1918}}; one of 32 [[navigable aqueduct]]s on the Erie Canal, it has since been restored.]]The original design planned for an annual tonnage of 1.5 million tons (1.36 million metric tons), but this was exceeded immediately. Such high levels of traffic along the canal caused increasing deterioration of the canal walls, requiring maintenance and improvement. Around 1833, many locks and aqueducts were found to be in need of replacing.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Whitford |first=Noble E. |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015006087442&seq=168 |title=History of the Canal System of the State of New York Together with Brief Histories of the Canals of the United States and Canada |date=1906 |publisher=Brandow Printing Company |year=1906 |location=Albany, NY |pages=132}}</ref> An ambitious program to improve the canal began in 1834, partially as a result of the need for repairs to infrastructure, but mostly because of extreme crowding particularly on the eastern portion of the canal. During this massive series of construction projects, known as the First Enlargement, the canal was widened from {{convert|40|to|70|ft|m}} and deepened from {{convert|4|to|7|ft|m}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Historical Context: Enlarging and Improving the Canal :: Consider The Source Online |url=https://considerthesourceny.org/using-primary-sources/erie-canal-new-yorks-gift-nation/chapter-6-enlarging-and-maintaining-erie-canal/historical-context-enlarging-and-improving-canal |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=considerthesourceny.org}}</ref> Locks were widened, doubled, and/or rebuilt in new locations, and many new [[navigable aqueduct]]s were constructed. The canal was straightened and slightly re-routed in some stretches, resulting in the abandonment of short segments of the original 1825 canal. The First Enlargement was declared to be completed in 1862 after economic struggles,<ref name=":03">{{Cite web |title=History of the canal system of the State of New York together with brief histories of the canals of the United States and Canada / by Noble E. Whitford v.1. |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015006087442&seq=169 |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=HathiTrust |page=257 |language=en}}</ref> with further minor enlargements in later decades.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of the canal system of the State of New York together with brief histories of the canals of the United States and Canada / by Noble E. Whitford v.1. |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015006087442&seq=297 |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=HathiTrust |pages=262-263 |language=en}}</ref>