link here  | |  tools  |  share:
photo size: medium 640 new

Tom Kielick
recent  |  interesting  |  random  |  favorites  |  contacts  |  sets  |  tags:  
view large
Hard Rock - Hard Men (0505)
Hard Rock - Hard Men (0505)

Imagine the effort to build this by hand in the mid 1800's!

The Paw Paw Tunnel is a 3,118-foot-long (950 m) canal tunnel on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C&O) in Allegany County, Maryland. Located near Paw Paw, West Virginia, it was built to bypass the Paw Paw Bends, a six-mile (9.7 km) stretch of the Potomac River containing five horseshoe-shaped bends. The town, the bends, and the tunnel take their name from the pawpaw trees that grow prolifically along nearby ridges.

Built using more than six million bricks, the tunnel has been described as "the greatest engineering marvel along the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park." Construction on the tunnel began in 1836 and was expected to be completed within two years at a total cost of $33,500. But the project proved far more complicated and costly than expected, and the tunnel would not open until 1850, more than a decade behind schedule.

~Wikipedia

The C&O Canal was built between 1828 and 1850 in hopes of realizing huge monetary profits by reducing the costs of transporting raw goods from the Ohio River valley to Washington DC and manufactured goods back again. It follows the Potomac River from Cumberland to Georgetown and totals 184 miles. Unfortunately, while thousands of workers were laboriously digging this ditch by hand, tracks for the B&O Railroad were being laid along the same route, finishing 8 years ahead of the canal.

By the time the canal was finally completed it was already obsolete!

Nowadays it's a scenic hiking and cycling path with lots of shade, frequent hiker-biker primitive campgrounds and occasional views of the Potomac.

My wife and I rode our bikes 150 miles along the trail over three days in late August when the weather had turned just a bit cooler.

© All Rights Reserved
Taken on: August 24, 2018
Tags: Everybody's photos tagged with 184 Miles of Adventure 184 Miles of Adventure Everybody's photos tagged with C&O Canal C&O Canal Everybody's photos tagged with towpath towpath more » Everybody's photos tagged with canal canal Everybody's photos tagged with bike ride bike ride « less
Sets appears in:   • 184 Miles of Adventure    • Canon Powershot SX230 HS    more » • Point & Shoot    « less
Groups appears in:   • cycling    • Flickritis: over 87,000 waiting for a vaccine.    more » • I bring my camera everywhere (no 30/60 limit)    • hiking climbing backpacking    • flickr in full color [No Black & White !]    • "Unlimited Photos: No Rules" (NO AI, CGI or SL images)    • Point 'n' Shoot    • No Rules! No limits! Just pictures!    • No Rules & No Limit!    • * no limits, just quality photography!    « less
Camera: Canon PowerShot SX230 HS, f/4.0, 1/50 sec, 5mm, ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Canon PowerShot SX230 HS
Aperture: f/4.0
Exposure Time: 0.02 sec (1/50)
Focal Length: 5mm
ISO: 200
Exposure Bias: -1 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
Exposure Mode: Manual
Metering Mode: Multi-segment
White Balance: Auto
Color Space: sRGB
Software: Adobe Photoshop 7.0
Show full info
Stats: 1,111 views / 2 comments
Hard Rock - Hard Men (0505)

go back

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: