Signs Point to Resurgence of Commercial Use of 200-year-old Waterway When it opened in 1825, the Erie Canal revolutionized transportation in the United States. Never before had cargo moved as efficiently or cheaply between east and west. Over the subsequent two centuries, transportation technology has evolved as railroads and interstate highways have supplanted waterways as the primary means of moving goods. Still, today’s New York State Canal System remains a viable, efficient artery for the transport of project and bulk cargo. At this year’s annual opening of the Canal, two tugboat and barge combinations were the first two vessels admitted into the Erie Canal, hauling three vintage aircraft bound for a museum near Schenectady. The three retired jet aircraft were removed from the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in Manhattan to make room for the Space Shuttle Enterprise. While these three aircraft represented unusual cargo, the Canal System continues to experience resurgence in the shipment of much more utilitarian, but no less critical, products. Industrial turbines and other power generating equipment produced at GE Power Systems in Schenectady, NY can routinely be seen traveling the Canal System bound for domestic or foreign ports. Other New York manufacturers have similarly eyed the capacity of the waterway to move specialty items which are either too large, or too heavy, to move by traditional land-based transportation systems. Though these “specialty” items have dominated the transportation picture along the Canal System in recent years, there are hints of a comeback for the bulk transportation function for which the Canal was originally built. For the first time in nearly two decades, bulk agricultural product is being moved regularly on the Canal System near Oswego, NY. This twice-weekly shipment is helping to support operations at an ethanol production facility in Volney, NY – producing more than 60 local jobs at the site of a former brewery. Also, an asphalt production facility near Lyons, NY which traditionally moved cargo on the Canal by barge is once again looking to the waterway as a means to combat high fuel prices and logistical challenges associated with road and rail delivery. In all, when it comes to cargo, the Canal System is delivering once again.