A current on the Erie Canal required a way to divert water through the locks when the gates were closed so the locks would not flood. Square openings at the head of the locks channeled water to a culvert between the lock chambers, and movable plates at the openings regulated the flow into the culvert, controlling the water level above the locks. Another challenge was hauling 250-ton grain barges into the lock chambers without wedging them. In 1880, an experiment at Port Byron Lock No. 52 installed a turbine at the head of the lock, connected by rods and gears to spools at the upper inside of each lock chamber. A rope with a steel hook on one end was attached to each spool, and when a barge was hooked, the force of water flowing past the turbine rotated the spools and pulled the barges into the lock chambers with minimum effort. Similar turbines were quickly installed at every lock on the Erie Canal.
