Dredge, Cushwa Basin

Although the canal was built as much as possible to protect it from runoff that would carry silt and debris into the canal, the canal company still had difficulty maintaining the intended six foot depth. In addition to dredges used for scraping up accumulated silt and debris on the bottom of the canal, the canal company needed mowers to cut out the water plants that tended to grow in the canal. In 1883 Victor Cushwa and five other businessmen who relied on the canal for transportation submitted a petition to the canal company. They demanded the clearing out of the places that boats regularly tied up and an important channel at Cumberland that was becoming difficult for boats to get through. Such complaints indicate the difficulty the company had in keeping canal in good operating condition.