The construction of the canal

Construction of the canal at Coteau-du-Lac began in the summer of 1779 under William Twiss, commanding Royal Engineer of the British army. Most of the labourers were soldiers from the King’s Royal Regiment of New York, a colonial Loyalist regiment, and they dug the canal through rock by hand with fairly primitive tools and techniques. The work included removing topsoil with picks and shovels, cutting holes into bedrock with sledgehammers and jumpers, blasting rock with gunpowder, hauling away earth and stone in wheelbarrows, dressing stone blocks with chisels and small hammers, and sometimes using a hand crane to lift heavy pieces. The British army probably brought experienced Cornish miners from England to help carry out this difficult and dangerous work. Construction lasted a little over a year, was completed in the fall of 1780, and the canal was inaugurated the following spring when navigation reopened. Materials for the lock gates came from several sources: flat iron from England, iron castings from les Forges du Saint-Maurice, and timber from the vicinity of Coteau-du-Lac.

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