Chesapeake & Delaware Canal: An Engineering Marvel

 

Just south of Delaware City and Fort Dupont is the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, known locally as the C&D Canal. It cuts across the Delmarva peninsula from the Delaware River to the Chesapeake Bay, making the peninsula into a sort of island.

What’s remarkable about the canal—and what makes it an engineering marvel—is how old it is. It’s one of the world’s oldest canals still in use. Construction began in 1804, and the canal opened in 1829. I can’t imagine how hard it was to build without our bulldozers or backhoes.

Of course in 1829 the canal was much narrower and shallower than it is today. It had four locks (Delaware may look flat, but it isn’t absolutely flat!) Boats and barges were pulled through by mules along the canal bank.

A bit of the original canal still runs along Delaware City. It’s now called the Delaware City Branch Canal or Channel. You can see how small the original canal was compared to today’s canal. One of the four original locks remains at the eastern end of this canal in Delaware City (out of sight in this photo). We want to check out the lock when we go back to Delaware City.

Original C&D Canal looking north from 5th St (DE Route 9)

Original C&D Canal looking south from 5th St (DE Route 9)

By the early 20^th century, many ships were too large for the canal and its locks. The Federal government bought the canal, widened it, and removed the locks to make it a “sea-level” route that seagoing ships could navigate. And, for reasons I haven’t figured out, they moved the eastern end of the canal a bit south, from Delaware City to Reedy Point just south of Fort Dupont. The enlarged canal reopened in 1927. Since then, as ships have gotten bigger, the canal has been widened further several times, and taller bridges have been built over it. Today the C&D Canal carries 40% of all marine traffic out of Baltimore, so when you visit, you’ve got a decent chance of seeing a ship or barge pass by.

There are several ways to see the C&D Canal along the Delaware Bayshore Byway. The best view is from the Reedy Point Bridge on DE Route 9 (the Delaware Bayshore Byway), which crosses the canal. If you’re driving south, you’ll see not only the canal but the stunning Thousand Acres Tract of Augustine Wildlife Area to the southwest. Unfortunately, you’ll have to look quickly as you drive over and forget about photos, because the bridge isn’t designed for pedestrians and there’s no place to pull over.

You can also see the canal from gravel roads along its north and south banks. If you’re driving south out of Delaware City, take the fork on the right toward Fort Dupont. Keep going past Fort Dupont, and you’ll dead-end at a gravel road that runs a short way both left and right along the canal bank. 

C&D Canal and Reedy Point Bridge from the canal's north bank

Or, after crossing the Reedy Point Bridge, take the first, very sharp right turn to backtrack to the south bank of the canal. Here another gravel road leads almost to the eastern end of the canal. You’ll see Reedy Point along the north bank of the canal.

C&D Canal and Reedy Point, looking east from the Canal's south bank

A fourth way to see the canal is to walk or bike the Michael Castle Trail, which runs about 12 miles along the canal’s north bank. The Delaware City Branch Canal Trail connects Delaware City to the Mike Castle Trail. We want to come back and walk the trails a bit when the weather gets cooler.

If you’d like to learn more about the C&D Canal, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has a webpage summarizing the canal’s history. Wikipedia has more detailed information. The C&D Canal Museum in Chesapeake City is about an hour roundtrip detour off the Delaware Bayshore Byway. (At this writing, it’s closed because of the pandemic.)