| 1. | a New York State waterway system. 575 mi. (925 km) long. |
| 2. | the main canal of this system, between the Hudson River and Lake Erie: consists of the rebuilt Erie Canal. 352 mi. (565 km) long. |
| New York State Barge Canal A system of inland waterways, about 845 km (525 mi) long, traversing New York State and connecting the Great Lakes with the Hudson River and Lake Champlain. Authorized in 1903 as a modification and expansion of the Erie Canal, it was begun in 1905 and completed in 1918. |
New York State Barge Canal
system of state-owned, state-operated waterways, 524 miles (843 km) in length, linking the Hudson River with Lake Erie, with extensions to Lakes Ontario and Champlain and Cayuga and Seneca lakes (in the Finger Lakes region). It incorporates the Erie Canal, from Troy via Rochester to Tonawanda, north of Buffalo; the Champlain Canal, which joins the Erie Canal at Waterford and extends north to Whitehall; the Oswego Canal, which connects the Erie Canal at Three Rivers (just north of Syracuse) and enters Lake Ontario at Oswego; and Cayuga and Seneca lakes, connecting these at Montezuma with the Erie Canal. It can accommodate barges 300 feet (91 metres) long, 43.5 feet (13 metres) wide, with a draft of 12 feet (3.7 metres) and a cargo capacity of 2,200 tons (2,000 metric tons). Authorized in 1903, it was completed in 1918. By the 1980s commercial shipping had declined because of the increased use of pipeline, rail, and bulk truck-carrying facilities. The canal system has, however, become popular for pleasure boating.
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