The empty canal prism in Clinton, New York, is pictured in 1877. The canal prism was 4 feet deep, the bottom was 26 feet wide, and the top was 40 feet across, following the dimensions of the Erie Canal. The Erie underwent enlargements, but the Chenango Canal never did, which prevented many Erie boats from using the Chenango in its later years because they were too big to fit on the smaller canal. (Courtesy of Clinton Historical Society.)
Squire Whipple patented his bowstring arch truss bridge design in 1841. It was the first all-iron bridge trussing system to find wide use. The Whipple bridge was such an improvement over the Burr design that it replaced the Burr bridge as the standard for the Erie and Chenango Canals. This photograph of the College Street Bridge in Clinton, New York, is a close-up of the iron construction of the Whipple bridge. Lock 19 is in the background. (Courtesy of the Hamilton College Library Special Collections.)