Seneca Creek Aqueduct
Posted by: 
flyingmoose
N 39° 04.124 W 077° 20.470
18S E 297458 N 4327012
Another one of the Aqueducts along the C&O Canal. This Aqueduct had 3 arches but one section has since left us.
Waymark Code: WM39DJ
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 02/29/2008
Views: 26
Seneca Creek Aqueduct is one of the first aqueducts along the C&O canal. There is a lot of history of course but to be honest the only one with a lot of history is the Monocacy Aqueduct. JEB Stuart and Mosby have been thru here on a few occasions and could be the reason that part of the Aqueduct is destroyed. Most likely however it may of just got ruined during a flood (maybe 1996 like Monocacy).
Below is some info from another site:
Mile 23 - Seneca Creek winds through Montgomery County and empties into the Potomac here. It originally had three arches, the repaired remains of the third can be seen on the right. The parking lot, boat launch and park here are very busy. It is accessible off River Road via Riley's Lock Road, named after the last lock keeper on the canal.
Dam 2 forms a still water here which is why you often see Jet Ski's out on the waters on a sunny weekend afternoon.
A nearby plaque reads:
Canal engineers built aqueducts to bridge canal boats over rivers and large streams such as Seneca Creek. Eleven aqueducts were needed between here and the canal's western terminus at Cumberland, Maryland; all required skilled quarrymen and stonemasons, and large outlays of scarce capital.
Seneca Aqueduct opened to traffic in 1833, and along with through-boats from the west, carried a substantial local traffic in lime, grain, fertilizer and sandstone to and from farms and industries around Seneca. Made of red sandstone from nearby bluffs, it has long been one of the most admired canal structures.
Freshlets and flooding on Seneca Creek have always caused problems, and finally in September, 1971, almost 50 years after the canal closed, a violent local flood swept away one of the arches.
The last locktender at Seneca was Johnny Riley, whose former lock and lockhouse are at the east end of the aqueduct. "I don't care what hour of the night it was," recalled a former boatman, "any hour of the night you boat to his lock and holler...there was his lantern waving you ahead."
Length of bridge: 99 ft
Height of bridge: 8ft
What type of traffic does this bridge support?: Pedestrians
What kind of gap does this bridge cross?:
Seneca Creek
Date constructed: 1883
Is the bridge still in service for its original purpose?: No
Name of road or trail the bridge services: C&O Canal Trail
Location:
Montgomery County
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