Genesee River Aqueduct (Broad Street Bridge)
Stone aqueduct that carried the Erie Canal over the Genesee River in Rochester, New York; Broad Street now runs over its successor. The Erie Canal article lists it among the route’s engineering feats.
At a glance
| Source | Author | Role | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Erie Canal | wikipedia.org | journey waypoint | The canal crossed the Genesee River near Rochester on a stone aqueduct of 11 arches. |
| Wedding of the Waters - The Erie Canal and the Making of a Great Nation | Peter L. Bernstein | subject | The largest aqueduct on the canal, finished eleven months late in 1823; Rochester becomes the Flour City. |
Erie Canal — wikipedia.org (2001)
Source: Original · Readwise highlight
The canal crossed the river on a stone aqueduct, 802 feet (244 m) long and 17 feet (5.2 m) wide, supported by 11 arches.
- Role: journey waypoint
- In the article: The canal crossed the Genesee River near Rochester on a stone aqueduct of 11 arches. The article later notes that a Second Genesee Aqueduct carried the Rochester Subway and now carries Broad Street.
- Why it matters: A major crossing point and engineering feat in Rochester.
Wedding of the Waters - The Erie Canal and the Making of a Great Nation — Peter L. Bernstein (2005)
Source: Wedding of the Waters - The Erie Canal and the Making of a Great Nation · Original · Readwise highlight
At Rochester, the canal had to cross over the Genesee River at a point where the current is unusually swift—the Genesee Falls are right next to the canal route. The Genesee was so wide that the aqueduct carrying the canal across it was more than three city blocks in length, supported by nine Roman-style stone arches, each fifty feet across, and one smaller arch at each end.
- Role: subject
- In the book: At Rochester the canal crosses the swift Genesee right beside its falls on the largest aqueduct of the line. William Britton uses convicts, ice carries away a pier, Britton dies and the contract is relet; it is completed in September 1823, eleven months late, with oysters brought from the Atlantic for the celebration, and Rochester becomes the Flour City.
- Why it matters: The aqueduct was the canal’s biggest engineering structure and the making of Rochester.