Main Line of Public Works

Main Line of Public Works
A network of east-west canals and connecting railroads spanned Pennsylvania from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. North-south canals connecting with this east-west canal ran between West Virginia and Lake Erie on the west, Maryland and New York in the center, and along the border with Delaware and New Jersey on the east. Many shorter canals connected cities such as York, Port Carbon, and Franklin to the larger network.
Map of historic Pennsylvania canals and connecting railroads
Interactive map of Main Line of Public Works
Specifications
Locks168
(The Eastern Division Canal had 14 locks, the Juniata Division 86, and the Western Division 68)
Maximum height AMSL
2,322 ft (708 m)
(Summit of the Allegheny Portage Railroad through Blair Gap)
StatusCanals abandoned except for historic and recreational segments. Many railroad segments survive as part of the Keystone Corridor.
History
Original ownerCommonwealth of Pennsylvania
Date of act1826
Construction began1828
Date completed1834
Date closedSold to Pennsylvania Railroad in 1857 with the last canal segment near Harrisburg closing in 1901
Geography
Start pointPhiladelphia
End pointPittsburgh
BranchesWiconisco Canal, Kittanning Feeder, Allegheny Outlet
Branch ofPennsylvania Canal
Connects toDelaware River, Schuylkill Canal, Conestoga Navigation, Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal, Codorus Navigation, Union Canal, Susquehanna Division, Allegheny River, Monongahela River, Ohio River, Ashley Planes, Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad, Lehigh Canal, and Delaware Canal

The Main Line of Public Works was a package of legislation passed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1826 to establish a means of transporting freight between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. It funded the construction of various long-proposed canal and road projects, mostly in southern Pennsylvania, that became a canal system and later added railroads. Built between 1826 and 1834, it established the Pennsylvania Canal System and the Allegheny Portage Railroad.

Later amendments substituted a new technology, railroads, in place of the planned but costly 82-mile (132 km) canal connecting the Delaware River in Philadelphia to the Susquehanna River. The route from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh remained a patchwork of canals and railroads until the Pennsylvania Railroad was built in the 1850s.

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