Black Rock Lock - Buffalo, NY - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

The Black Rock Lock and the Black Rock Channel, located where Lake Erie drains into the Niagara River, provide for vessels of all types a protected waterway around the reefs, rapids and fast currents that exist in the upstream portion of the Niagara River. The lock and channel permit pleasure craft and comercial vessels to travel between Buffalo Harbor and Tonawanda Harbor. In combination with the New York Erie Canal, they provide pleasure craft and canal-draft vessels an inland water route between Lake Erie and the Atlantic Ocean.

There has been a lock at Black Rock since 1833 when the state of New York built one as part of the Erie Canal. The present lock, constructed by the Corps of Engineers from 1908-1913, provided the capacity to accommodate large Great Lakes vessels.

Through the years those vessels have carried commodities essential to business and industry in Western New York. Although a once-important traffic in iron ore has disappeared, a substantial amount of coal and petroleum is still transported through the lock.

The lock chamber is 650'x70'. The posted coordinates were taken from Google Earth and is for the center of the chamber.

Waterway Name: Black Rock Canal Connected Points: The Black Rock Canal connects Lake Erie to the Niagara River. Type: Lock Date Opened: 01/01/1913 Elevation Difference (meters): 8.00 Site Status: Operational Date Closed (if applicable): Not listed Web Site: Not listed

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