Wanted: Illinois and Michigan Canal Workers
Information for Gate
Builders
The lock’s gates were of the simple "Mitre" type, framed by 12" X 12" timbers and diagonally (or vertically) sheathed on their upstream side. In the lower ¼ of each gate there were two wooden "butterfly" valves by which water was admitted to (or from) the chamber after the gates were closed. (At Lock 14, a Hidreth Quandrant Slide Gate is used in place of the butterfly valves. This is a slightly curved, long, rectangular, iron gate, which slides up or down to regulate the water flow.) Each of the "Mitre" gates turned on a pivot point (about one-foot square) and was operated by pushing on the end of the 26-foot long balance-beam forming the top of the gate.
(Vierling 1986, 42,45)
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