New York State Engineer and Surveyor Contract Proposals for the Enlargement of the Erie and Champlain Canals

Chapter 329 of the Laws of 1854 appropriated $2,250,000 in state funds to provide for the enlargement of the Erie, Oswego, Cayuga, and Seneca Canals; the completion of the Black River and Genesee Valley Canals; and the enlargement of the locks of the Champlain Canal. The act also authorized the Commissioners of the Canal Fund to borrow $1,500,000 in support of these projects through the issuance of stock certificates to be repaid within eighteen years at an annual interest rate of six percent.

The act authorized a contracting board, consisting of the Canal Commissioners, the State Comptroller, and the State Engineer and Surveyor, to enter into contracts on behalf of the state for the completion of work or the furnishing of materials associated with these projects. This board held public meetings to receive proposals in the vicinity of the canal or canal division (Erie) on which the work was to be done or for which the materials were to be furnished. Abstracts of proposals received by the contracting board were to be certified, filed in the Canal Department, and made available for public inspection after the contracts were awarded.

This series consists of one volume of abstracts of contract proposals pertaining to the enlargement of the Erie Canal and one volume pertaining to the enlargement of the locks of the Champlain Canal. Both volumes contain pre-printed forms on which is recorded the canal section or structure to which the proposal pertains, an itemized breakdown of labor and material costs, an affirmation that the applicant(s) has provided a bond guaranteeing execution of contract if so awarded, and an affirmation that the applicant(s) has no interest in or agreements regarding any proposal for the same work or materials. Categories in which labor and materials estimates are itemized vary depending on type of project.

The Erie Canal volume includes proposals for work on sections, locks, bridge abutments, culverts, waste weirs, and aqueducts. The Champlain Canal volume consists predominantly of proposals for work on locks, but also contains several proposals for work on bridge abutments and superstructure.

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