The Second Locking

On the Erie Barge Canal, locks originally had capstans as part of their early 20th-century equipment. At a time when tugs commonly towed two or more barges and each barge nearly filled a lock chamber, a tug could pull one barge through the chamber but could not help the remaining barge without relocking back through, a tedious and time-consuming process. Capstans allowed barge hands to manually pull the remaining barges into the lock chamber by wrapping attached ropes around the spinning capstan and carefully adjusting the rope's tightness, enabling them to move several thousand ton barges with little effort.

Root, New York · United States