Voices of Preservation: An Update on the Schoharie Creek Aqueduct
This month, we’ve been taking some time to shine an extra light on our 2020-21 Seven to Save site the NYS Barge Canal System. As part of that effort, we asked our colleague Craig Williams to write a guest blog post for us to give us an update on one of our 2018-19 Seven to Save sites — the Schoharie Creek Aqueduct.
Craig Williams is president of the Canal Society of New York State's board of directors. He retired in 2014 as a history curator at the New York State Museum after more than thirty years of service.
Just a few months ago the future of the 1841 Schoharie Creek Aqueduct suddenly became much brighter, reversing the despair shared by many that this icon of New York's historic Erie Canal was quite literally on its last legs. Following the collapse of its eastern end, repairs were made in 1978 to install cables that secured the structure. This was the last major investment in its preservation. The cables failed in 1998 when the furthest east of the remaining arches collapsed, additionally threatening the stability of the rest. Recommendations of a comprehensive 2004 engineering study of the aqueduct were not implemented when an awarded federal grant had to be declined. All truly seemed lost when the devastating flood waters of tropical storm Irene receded in 2011. The famous Otis Eddy Bldr 1841 builder's stone along the towpath hung precipitously on the edge on the last connected arch. Amazingly, as if demonstrating a will of its own, the beautifully carved stonework survived and inspired still greater recognition of its preservation needs. In December 2019, those hopes came to fruition with the awarding of a $600,000 Environmental Protection Fund grant and $50,000 from the New York State Canal Corporation to provide desperately needed stabilization. Expectations are still high that another nearly equal amount will shortly be coming from the National Park Service's Save America's Treasures program.
A closeup photo of the Otis Eddy Bldr 1841 builder's stone
The Aqueduct has always faced difficulties. Indeed, the original premise of the Aqueduct as part of the State's first enlargement of the Erie Canal was to enable canal traffic to avoid the troublesome slackwater crossing that was part of the Erie's first construction in the early 1820s. The greatest challenge has always been the unpredictable flood waters of Schoharie Creek. According to the 19th-century New York State ethnographer, Lewis Henry Morgan, the very name "Schoharie" originated with the Mohawk term for "flood-wood." High water and ice jams repeatedly damaged the Aqueduct and interrupted canal traffic up until its abandonment shortly after 1915. The eastern arches were deliberately removed in the mid-20th-century to lessen flooding conditions. The remaining arches survived the great 1987 Thruway bridge collapse. The grandeur of the Aqueduct's arches still inspire as they have since the very first days. Herman Melville noted in his classic 1851 Moby Dick that the Erie Canal was characterized by its aqueducts forming "Roman arches over Indian rivers." That association with one of the nation's greatest public works is still a much appreciated feature as Montgomery County Executive, Matthew L. Ossenfort, noted in commenting on this recent preservation success:
"Schoharie Crossing Historic Site is a local treasure and these resources will ensure it doesn’t become a part of our past, but remains a towering symbol of the deep connection between the Mohawk River and our communities."
The Aqueduct Alliance
A black and white photo of the Aqueduct by Bruce Harvey
The Preservation League of New York State provided the spark that initiated an extraordinary team effort that planned and secured new resources for the Aqueduct. The League's Seven to Save program was the key. Janice Fontanella, the site manger for Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site, suggested to the Canal Society of New York State in mid-October 2017 that the Aqueduct was certainly worthy of being nominated to the program, though the deadline for submissions was less than a week away. The Society didn't need any further convincing, having been associated with Schoharie Crossing from the very first attempts in the 1950s to make it a historic site and museum. In 1959 the Society provided a tour of the Crossing's potential to Governor Nelson Rockefeller. In the years since, the Society had regularly brought its statewide membership to the Aqueduct for tours and other programs. It also continued to collect documentation on the history and condition of the structure. With that background in hand, the Society was quickly able to prepare the nomination paperwork. In February 2018, the League announced that the Society's efforts were successful! The Schoharie Aqueduct was officially recognized as being among the seven most significant and most vulnerable historic resources in New York State. As part of the announcement, nationally-recognized photographer Bruce Harvey conducted initial photographic documentation of the Aqueduct, which was later included in the League's traveling exhibition Hidden in Plain Sight.
With the Seven to Save listing in hand, Janice had the extra impetus and recognition to establish the Aqueduct Alliance committee, making all the difference. The first team meeting was in July 2018 to consider new strategies for the stabilization and preservation of the Aqueduct.
The team initially included representatives from the League, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP), the Canal Society, Montgomery County, Congressman Paul Tonko's office and Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. That July meeting first addressed the concerns and possibilities raised by the February 2018 Stabilization Evaluation Report on the Schoharie Aqueduct conducted by the engineering firm of Barton and Loguidice. Sponsored by the OPRHP the previous fall, the study updated the findings of the comprehensive 2004 McMullan and Associates report that had been part of the failed Save America's Treasures efforts of that year. Concurrent with the Barton and Loguidice study and also funded by OPRHP was the first Lidar study of the Aqueduct to establish baseline measurements to better track future deterioration. The three options provided by Barton and Loguidice were considered, all attempting to prevent further scouring the Aqueduct's foundation and to stabilize the failing eastern arches. The team also raised the intriguing possibility of a pedestrian walkway that would reconnect the Aqueduct to the eastern bank. All that was needed was money and substantial amounts of it — an obstacle that could have easily overwhelmed the most hopeful wishes for the Aqueduct.
HAER documentation at the site in 2019
Every member of the team brought an extra dose of determination to finally, after decades of false starts, ensure a more solid foundation for the Aqueduct's future preservation, literally and figuratively. The Preservation League's Erin Tobin and Frances Stern kept the team on track with inspiration from their other remarkable preservation accomplishments. Janice Fontanella had been Schoharie's site manager since 1987 and had persevered through the 1998 collapse and the unprecedented 2011 floods. Chris Flagg, chief of OPRHP's Bureau of Historic Site and Park Services, also recognized that the time was both right and critical to save the Aqueduct. His commitment was soon demonstrated by securing funding and coordination for the needed engineering studies and boots-on-the-ground assistance in 2018 and 2019. The Schoharie Crossing maintenance crew was soon doing the tough work of clearing the structure of damaging vegetation, visually making the Aqueduct once again a site to admire. In December 2019, Chris's office submitted a still-pending request to the Save America's Treasures program for $500,000 for the Aqueduct's stabilization. Andy Kitzmann and Jean Mackay from the Erie Canalway placed the efforts into a system-wide appreciation. They also assisted in April 2019 with tapping the special services of the National Park Service's Historic American Engineering Record office to conduct the most comprehensive survey of structure since HAER last visited the site in 1969.
Amanda Bearcroft, Director of Community and Economic Development for the City of Amsterdam, brought local connections. The New York State Canal Corporation soon joined in supporting the team's work with Sharon Leighton's expertise in grants and passion for all things Canal. Ryan Weitz of Barton and Loguidic had that same passion, as an avid local historian and lifetime advocate for the Aqueduct. Elisabeth Bakker-Johnson of the SUNY Construction Fund, and formerly with OPRHP, brought a long professional history with the Aqueduct's preservation.
Plans Moving Forward
A photo of an intact arch
By early 2019, concrete proposals and plans were on the table. With thanks again to the OPRHP staff, an engineering study by the firm Ryan Biggs was completed in February for a proposed pedestrian bridge in the context of the other stabilization options. Especially critical to the piecing together of a plan was the willingness of Montgomery County's Business Development Center to be the lead agency in a Consolidated Funding applications to the State's Environmental Protection Fund and to New York State Canal Corporation. Submitted in August 2019 for a total request of $650,000, the announcements of their success came in March 2020. Andrew Santillo and Alex Kuttesch of the Business Development Center were instrumental in taking the project under their wing and had joined early on with the team's research and planning.
With funds raised to date, the soon-to-commence work will be the first part of a multi-phased effort. While the ultimate goal is to ensure the preservation of the Aqueduct's visual character for generations to come, another aspect of that goal will benefit the appreciation of the Aqueduct in an especially unique manner. The hope is to complete a state-of-the-art pedestrian bridge from the remaining portions of the Aqueduct's arches to the structure's original east bank abutment. The bridge would greatly facilitate connections among the other historic canal features at Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site. It would provide new enhanced access to the Empire State Trail.
Though slowed by issues relating to the pandemic, the initial work should launch shortly. Much of it will seem mundane to the casual observer but is nonetheless essential. Additional protection will be placed around the piers to prevent scouring of the foundation. The Aqueduct was built on a strong timber platform. As long as those timbers remain submerged, their strength will not be degraded by exposure to the open elements. The stonework will be regrouted to prevent water seepage and the resulting freeze-thaw damage that is so common from upstate winters. The most striking appearance from this initial work will be, as the grant proposal defined, the reconstruction of the collapsed Arch 7 and Pier 7 using reinforced cast-in-place concrete pier that is founded on piles. The new cast-in-place pier would have a 12-inch stone veneer to help it match with the existing structure. The installation of micro piles in lieu of driven piles would cause far less ground vibration that could damage the rest of the structure. This new work will provide a stabilizing backstop to the arches further west.