Chesapeake and Delaware Branch Canal

The Chesapeake and Delaware Branch Canal meets in Delaware City, Delaware. The canal has a lift bridge that helps the Norfolk Southern rail cross the canal. The bridge was fashioned by the US Army Corps of Engineers. It was part of a canal expansion plan in 1966. There used to be a vehicular bridge too; however, the lift bridge for vehicles was replaced with a higher bridge.

The actual canal is 14 miles long crossing the Delaware Maryland peninsula in the north. To the east is the mouth of Reedy Point on the Delaware River. The western mouth is at Chesapeake City, Maryland on Chesapeake Bay. The name given to the canal comes from the two bodies of water that connect it.

The Chesapeake and Delaware Branch Canal is one of the only fully sea level shipping canals in the world. In other words, it does not change elevation as many other canals do. The canal was built in the 1820s, opening in 1829 for shipping business. Water depth was 10 feet, with four locks used to get barges and sailing vessels out to sea or inland. Before the mid 70s, horses and mules were used for the locks. Today the channel is 35 feet.