C&O Canal aqueducts are “water bridges” that carry canal boats over creeks and rivers that flow into the Potomac River. Built from 1833 to 1835, the Conococheague Aqueduct is the fifth of eleven such “works of art” on the canal. In August 1863 Confederate soldiers damaged the Conococheague Aqueduct in an effort stop the canal’s transportation of coal to Georgetown where it was used by the Union. Repairs took four days and the canal returned to operation. Unfortunately, in April 1920 a canal boat broke through the upstream wall of the aqueduct, shutting down the canal for over four months. Repaired with a timber wall this aqueduct functioned until two 1924 floods closed the canal for good.
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The Conococheague Aqueduct is a watered and fully operational aqueduct in Williamsport. It has three 60 -foot arches and is 196 feet long, making it the second longest aqueduct on the canal, behind the Monocacy Aqueduct. It began operation in 1835 and ended in 1924 when flooding damaged the aqueduct, along with other parts of the canal. Soon after, the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Company closed the canal to boat traffic.
Restoration work on the aqueduct began in 2017 and was completed in 2019. The project involved strengthening the piers and supports, repairing the masonry, installing a period appropriate wall and iron railing, and making the aqueduct water-tight. Now visitors can take a free one hour interpretive boat ride led by the Park Service.
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