Erie Canal
Canal de Erie
- Date
- 1817-1825 · confidence high
- Place
- Erie Canal, Rome, New York, United States
- Credited to
- DeWitt Clinton and self-taught engineers (Benjamin Wright, Canvass White)
- Field
- Movement
What it is
A 584 km canal with 83 locks linking the Hudson to the Great Lakes. It cut freight costs by up to 90% and made New York the leading port of the United States.
It was built with local hydraulic lime (Canvass White's natural cement) and Irish labour, and opened on 26 October 1825.
What it led to
- the rise of New York as port and financial centre
- settlement of the Midwest and the canal boom
- American civil engineering