The Shinnecock Canal remains open to limited boat traffic despite the failure of a hinge on one of the lock gates overnight on Tuesday. Nonetheless, Suffolk County Legislator Ann Welker said by phone this week that the county is discouraging all non-emergency boat traffic.
“Because the eastern section of the canal is closed off, there’s a lot of current in a smaller area,” she said.
Michael Martino, director of communications for County Executive Ed Romaine, said the county is still assessing the damage and working to identify a cause. “A contractor is on site,” he said. “Equipment, including a crane, is being mobilized to the site to put a cofferdam in place to facilitate the repair work starting tomorrow. A tidal gate is chained in the open position, so the canal is open to boat traffic.”
According to a history of the canal on Southampton Town’s website, the present-day canal is located where Native Americans once ported their canoes between Shinnecock Bay and Peconic Bay; they called it Canoe Place, a name still associated with the area and some businesses there. After fits and starts (the town’s original settlers understood the need, and the idea was considered in the pre-colonial era) the canal was completed in 1892. It’s 4,000 feet long and 4-and-a-half feet deep at low tide.
In the first 50 years of canal operations, there was much construction and some setbacks because of weather and the canal’s interaction with the Long Island Rail Road bridge. The Hurricane of 1938 opened a permanent gash that connected Shinnecock Bay to the Atlantic Ocean, something that engineers had been trying to do for years, to help maintain water levels in the bay. The gash was fortified. The Sunrise Highway bridge was built in 1957, but wasn’t opened until 1961 because the highway hadn’t yet been extended.
“The water is extremely turbulent at certain tides, and boaters are discouraged from using it during those times,” Mr. Martino said. “Variable message signs alerting boaters have been placed along the canal. The Coast Guard and Police Department have been notified, and we anticipate full operation to be restored within four weeks. The county will provide updates as the situation develops.”
