Here is a view of Enlarged Erie Canal Lock 52, which was taken on a winters day when the canal. Compare this to the other photo of Lock 52.

The wooden platform that the people are standing on was a strainer to keep floating debris out of the turbine / overflow culvert that ran down the length of the lock. It also served as a bumper of sorts, helping to guide boats into the chambers. Today all we see are the three large openings that the water flowed into, as all the wood is gone.

We can date this photo to the early 1900’s as the lock had gone through the late 1800’s 9 million deepening process. We can see this be looking at the top course of stone. The lock was deepened to 8 feet to help increase the amount of draft available to the boaters. The large, newer stone shows this work.

Of course you know that the failure of the 9 million project lead to the construction of the barge canal, right?