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Aqueduct |
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The
Monocacy Aqueduct is one of eleven along the Chesapeake and Ohio
Canal. At over 500 feet in length, this seven-arched aqueduct is the
largest of the eleven and one of the finest features of the Canal.
Made of white and pink quartz sandstone, quarried from nearby
Sugarloaf Mountain, its construction was begun in 1829 and finished in
1833. It underwent severe damage during Hurricane Agnes in 1972. The NPS began to try to stabilize the structure, and temporarily girdled it with steel cables and beams. In 1997, the temporary braces are still in place, holding it together after two additional assaults by the January and September 1996 floods. The C and O Canal Association is actively trying to raise funds in order to preserve this integral part of the Canal. Without this structure, the canal would be cut in two.
P.S. The photo above is a link to a similar view of the aqueduct, but taken over thirty years later, also by Robert Kroll. And another picture of some recent repair work can also be viewed.
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| A Professor's Heartfelt Crusade to Save a C&O Canal Aqueduct | NPS Monocacy Page |