The Canal Bed

It is this upper section of the canal that has best survived periodic flooding in tact. The canal bed is not always straight but curves in several places to follow the contour of a natural hill. By cutting into the hill along a constant level and transferring the earth to the outer bank, a minimum of excavation and earth moving was necessary. The extreme upper part of the canal was cut straight across level land, the greatest difficulty being the bed rock which was encountered. This was blasted out, some of it being used in canal construction. The rock is visible in places along the upper part of the canal bed often showing holes which were drilled by hand for blasting. In building the canal all trees and plant growth were removed and excavations were carried out by hand or with mules and drag lines. Stumps were removed with a variety of machines common at the time. Each bank was given a core of clay which was resistant to leaking. Archaeologists have found this clay layer still in tact in this area.