For Brendan Simon and a team of New York State Canal system engineers and maintenance workers, this is the season before the season.

“They get to understand the scope and the scale of it and how big of an operation this is. This a full-blown construction site,” Simon said.

The canal system operates and maintains 524 miles of water in New York State, including the Erie, Oswego, Cayuga-Seneca and Champlain canals. But before boating can begin in the spring, they have to make sure the 57 locks and many lift bridges are functioning properly.

“We have a very short window and what can be a very difficult season to work in — the winter — to get all the work done,” Simon said.

In Lockport, the city that sprang up along the Erie Canal, they’re working on repairing the massive gates that let water in and out of the locks to raise watercraft along elevation changes. The process began back in December by pumping most of the water out. That allows workers to get to the bottom of it — literally.

“You never really know what you’re getting into until you’ve fully pumped it down and you can get into the chamber and look at for example, the valves, the miter gates, the actual walls,” Simon said.

These gates are 45 feet high, 25 feet wide and weigh 100,000 pounds.

“And those gates when they close, they come together and right at the very bottom interface of the gate, we have a rubber seal that we’re going to install in coming weeks,” Simon said.

They’ll lift them up with jacks and get to work. It’s all done by canal system staff and they make their own custom parts.

“These are not parts that you can find at the corner store and replace. So much of what we have to replace has to be done in house and that’s where our dedicated and skilled workforce comes in,” Simon said.

Repairs have to be done to each lock every 8-10 years. The system is more than 200 years old — and the modern barge canal was built more than a century ago. 

“The ingenuity that created these canals is amazing,” Simon said. “It’s a hundred years later since the modern barge canal was constructed, and it’s a challenge even just to maintain them.”

Even with today’s technology, a year-round job to make sure it’s a smooth trip if you’ve ever navigated on the Erie Canal. 

The canal will be open for the navigation season from May 19 through October 11.