Canal path work progressing
Story and photo by Beth Hoad

Construction of the Erie Canalway project at the Widewaters Bridge location at Port Gibson remains on schedule. On Monday, August 1, crews from Paul Gallo Construction of Buffalo, installed the concrete tunnel that will provide passage for Canalway users under East Palmyra-Port Gibson Road.

Erie Canalway tunnel north of Widewaters Bridge. Photo taken Friday, August 5, 2005 from the west side of East Palmyra-Port Gibson Road.

A Gallo crew member said the six pre-cast concrete tunnel sections, each weighing 25 tons, were set in place using a crane and secured in about four hours.

In the meantime, another crew has been working near Harrison's Spillway near Swift's Landing Park east of Palmyra. Because the Spillway falls are too wide to span safely, a single-span steel bridge with wood decking will be erected over Red Creek and a double-span bridge over Ganargua Creek will be installed to help circumvent the Spillway falls.

Installation of caps on top of the existing West Shore Railroad bridge abutments that once supported the tracks where the railroad crossed over Ganargua Creek is completed.

Architects said the pre-built bridges would be taken to the site on the old railroad bed and set in place using a crane. Presently, no date for the installation is available.

At the same time a crew has been laying bricks and building foundations for an informational kiosk, a handicap picnic table and benches near Peak's Bridge on Whitbeck Rd. The crew chief for Gallo said there has been considerable interest from passersby, and that he had talked with bicyclers from the Netherlands and Denmark as well as the locals. 'People are quite excited about the Canalway. It's getting pretty popular,' he said.

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