Passage
THE BUILDING OF THE NORTHBROOK CANAL
(1)
The improvements that the canal's chief engineer carried out 1 opposing the eight years of construction were many. He introduced an entirely new system of inland transportation across the region. The chief engineer convinced the legislature of the need for a canal and 2 laid out the route its waters would follow. He 3 envisaged a continuous waterway linking the inland farms with the eastern ports and 4 providing both for the movement of goods and the settlement of new towns. Gradually the older wagon roads were tied into the new line of locks and channels. The waterway itself was financed not 5 by private investors but by the state treasury under a plan of public works.
(2)
6 Today the grassy towpath that once carried teams of mules draws joggers and cyclists from across the region. [1] 7 Nevertheless, the chief engineer planned a network of branch canals to reach the smaller inland towns. [2] The first branch ran from the main channel to the mills at Hartley 8 which were opened in 1827, and covered a distance of forty miles. [3] By 1830, the system was extended to Wellsford and 9 to Danforth. [4] Before the state board was formed, the upkeep of the public roads had been left to the separate town councils. 10 As a result, traveling merchants were completely neglected by the town councils. [5] A separate Board of Public Works was then established to oversee them.
(3)
[6] Stoneworks and embankments were raised on an 11 expensive scale. [7] The construction of the great aqueduct at Stony Creek was completed and opened on May 3, 1831. [8] Many bridges and culverts were built, and the deepening of the harbor at Colvin Basin was also taken up. [9] 12 The chief engineer's special contribution was the founding of a school of engineering at Grantham and in the neighboring counties. 13
(4)
Most importantly, the chief engineer is credited with the creation of a modern system of canal tolls. 14 The chief engineer, who filled many offices in the survey and administration of the region, reshaped the toll system, doing away with 15 these past obstructions and setting a uniform charge for every mile a barge traveled.
