George Washington Was The First To Realize The Importance And

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Term Paper Title	George Washington Was The First To Realize The Importance And
# of Words	1482
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	5.93

George Washington was the first to realize the importance and
need of canals for the nation's development, but never completed his
thought.

On July 4 1817 the Erie Canal was began by Governor DeWitt Clinton a former New York city mayor and US Senate in Rome New York.  It took much persistence and determination by Governor DeWitt Clinton to make the Erie Canal a reality.  He believed the canal could be dug across the entire state of N.Y. to form a water route through the Appalachian range and become a "Gateway to the West."  In 1808 Governor Clinton asked the N.Y legislator to form a Committee to study his idea.  After three years the committee recommended the canal be built at an estimate of $5 million.  This was delayed because President Madison vetoed the federal assistance for the project and because of the war of 1812.  The N.Y. legislator than granted him a huge sum of $6
Million.

The canal was opened on Oct 26, 1825 and referred to as the "eighth wonder of the world." The canal a 363 mile water way 40 feet wide at the top, 28 feet wide at the bottom and only 4 feet deep
it runs from Albany N.Y, to Buffalo N.Y across rivers, valleys, and mountains.

The canal was engineered by only a few engineers in the country, who had no idea how to construct a canal.  The canal was constructed and problem solved by trial and error.  There were so many invention's developed during the construction of the canal like the big two wheeled device to pull trees and roots out of the ground, and a special cement that hardened under water.  Many Americans considered it the first school of engineering.

The New Yorkers did not have to wait until the entire canal was completed because it was built in sections and each section was used as completed.  It took 2 ½  years for the first section to be completed from Utica to the Seneca River, the 98 mile middle section opened May 1820.  The next section ran eastward to Little Falls opened in 1821. In 1322 the canal reached Schenectady on the east and Rochester on the west. By 1823 the eastward section was completed to Albany and the Hudson River.  The last miles were through Lock port completed in 1824 running westward to Buffalo in 1825, were the most difficult to build.  At this point there was 7 miles of 30 feet thick limestone rock and flint, which took 2 years to burrow through by blasting rock with explosives. Today it is known to geologists as (Lock Port Dolomite).

GROUND BREAKING/THEIR SALARY- The canal was offi...

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