Four New Miles of Canal Paddling--but When?

By Alf Cooley

The West Montgomery County Citizens Association hosted a presentation Feb. 8 by the C&O National Historical Park's chief engineer Joe Reed on an intricate project being undertaken to stabilize the "Highwalls" section of the Canal. This is the 1,015-foot-long drywall structure carrying the Canal along the face of a cliff just up from the third parking lot at Carderock and Milepost 11. Over the years it has been filled by silt washing down three streamlets that emerge from under MacArthur Blvd. The weight of this sand and dirt is breaking down the wall.

When the project is done, the Canal's "Log wall" Level 14 will be filled all the way down from Widewater past Anglers footbridge and across the Highwalls, about two beautiful miles. A construction contract has been awarded, and the project is awaiting final permits from the Maryland Department of Environment and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The work will take 16 months, but the start time has not yet been set. One observer of NHP activities, Greg Maassen, predicts that it may be another two years until the first shovel of silt is turned.

The project will stabilize the 35-foot-high-wall, remove the silt from the canal prism behind it, and build a series of rock pools and cascades in the three streamlets in the 150 feet from MacArthur to the Canal.  Finally, the Park will place a HDPE plastic liner at the bottom of the Canal and refill it with water coming down from Widewater. A cofferdam just upstream of the Highwalls will maintain the water level in the upper Level 14. The NHP then will have a trickle of water descend through the non-navigable Seven Locks (14 through 8) to keep restored Level 5 navigable (between the Lockhouse at Lock 6 and the gravel parking lot at Lock 5).

At the end of his presentation engineer Reed dangled the possibility of having the Canal refilled all the way down to Lock 14—about two miles downstream from the Highwalls project. Almost at the Beltway, Lock 14 would have to be completely rebuilt, and the rest of Level 14 dredged. Easily accessible from both Anglers and the Carderock parking lots, the four-mile restored waterway would soon become a favorite outing for paddling families and beginners.

Reed's presentation, illustrated with 40 slides, may be accessed on the WMCCA website.