The
Federal Dam is a manmade
dam built across the
Hudson River, near
Troy, New York in the
United States. The major function of the dam is to improve navigability. It is located at mile 153 of the Hudson River, measuring from the beginning of the Hudson as a Federally Navigable Waterway near the
Battery in
Manhattan. The location of the dam marks the northern end of the Hudson River
estuary.
The Federal Lock
The Federal Lock at Troy, with dam visible in the background.
In order to allow ships to move freely, the eastern end of the dam contains a
lock, commonly called the
Federal Lock or (on some charts and publications) the "
Troy-US Lock." The lock, which was opened in 1916, has a single chamber and is long, wide, deep, and has a lift of approximately 14 feet (4.3 m). Although it is the first lock encountered by vessels passing from the Hudson River into the
Great Lakes by way of the
Barge Canal, and it is sometimes referred to as lock "E-1," it is not part of the
Erie Canal (which officially has no "Lock 1"), nor maintained by the
New York State Canal Corporation. Both the lock and the dam were built and are currently operated by the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; as of September 2006, it was listed as being in "Operational" condition.
See also
