Construction of the Erie Canal began at Rome on July 4, 1817, to take advantage of the "long level." The portion between Utica and Salina, now Syracuse, was planned first because there were relatively few obstructions and the level surface required no locks. In October 1819, the 98-mile section between Utica and the Seneca River was completed, and the first boat traveled from Rome to Utica. Financed by the state, the Erie Canal was constructed by local contractors who used their ingenuity to build a canal across New York, then largely a wilderness. The 363-mile canal was 40 feet wide and four feet deep, and 83 locks carried it over different land levels. It was hailed as the foremost engineering achievement of its time. When finished in 1825, the Erie Canal became the main route between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes. Western New York flourished with cheap new transportation, New York City secured its place as the nation's greatest port and city, and development of the Mid-West was hastened. The modernized State Barge Canal System, consisting of the Erie, Champlain, Oswego, and Cayuga-Seneca Canals, was completed in 1918.