The Canal Gauge Dock at Buchanan
The Buchanan Gauge Dock and its operation
Close-up of the gauge dock from the 1851 painting of Buchanan by Edward Beyer.
To use the canal, whether for passenger (packet) boats or freight boats, tolls were charged. Freight boats were charged based on the weight of the cargo and type of cargo. (Packet boats were not weighed.) Rather than unloading the freight to weigh it, or weighing the boat with cargo onboard, a method was developed for determining cargo weight by placing the boat within the gauge dock and noting the amount of water displaced by measuring the depth of the boat in the water. This would give canal authorities the weight of the cargo.
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To establish a baseline water displacement for each boat, as a boat began service on the canal, its displacement within the dock was determined while empty and then noted with certain amounts of weight added. These measurements were recorded in the gauge dock’s record book and shared with the other canal gauge docks. The tolls paid for the canal’s operation covered maintenance, paying canal employees, paying for future extension of the canal, and repaying loans.
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Buchanan’s gauge dock had an exterior stone wall made of rough stone and mortar. There was a finer cut stone interior wall which can be seen in the 1855 Edward Beyer painting of Buchanan. To support the dock walls, stone pilasters were built at regular intervals along the walls. To protect the walls and pilasters, wooden bumpers were placed on the sides of the pilasters. The size of the boats and bateaux were limited by the size of the canal’s locks which were 100 feet long and 15 feet wide. Some freight boats exceeded 90 feet in length and could carry 40 tons of cargo.
Passenger-carrying packet boats docked on the north shore of the James River across from the gauge dock site. Freight boats docked on the south shore, just down-stream and up-stream from the gauge dock.
The Buchanan Gauge Dock Archaeological Dig
Overall excavation site during 2016 study
In an effort to locate the gauge dock and determine its condition for a possible historic site, in October, 2016 the Town of Buchanan contracted with McMullan & Associates of Reston, Virginia to perform the excavation and analysis. McMullan has provided engineering services on numerous historic canals including the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, the Morris Canal and the Erie Canal. Two previous studies in 2013 were conducted on a small scale by other firms.
Historical documents about the Buchanan gauge dock as well as the other docks have yet to be found. Extensive documentation exists on the construction of the canal’s locks. Some lock construction techniques were used in the gauge dock’s construction.
The 2016 field investigation involved excavation of the gauge dock walls and general observations of the stone masonry. The exposed stone walls of the gauge dock seen today are the “backing stone,” which was essentially the foundation of the dock. The stones appear to be mostly limestone. The mortar that joins them together is in fair to good condition.
Back of wall, test pit #1”
Pilaster, front face of dock wall
Gauge dock rock wall foundation 2021
Particular areas of the back of the wall were excavated as much as 9 feet deep. The front of the wall was excavated at certain points revealing intermittently placed pilasters that acted as reinforcement. Some deteriorated wet wood was found adjacent to the pilasters. It has been surmised that the floor of the gauge dock was lined with timbers. The depth of the dock walls is unknown at this time as excavation deeper than what was conducted in 2016 proved to be too hazardous to the dock’s walls.
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The “dressed stones” that lined the interior of the gauge dock had been removed prior to the dock being filled in during the 1940s. There is speculation that the rock wall along U.S. Route 11 in front of the former Groendyk plant, are rocks from the gauge dock.
Planning for preservation of the Buchanan Gauge Dock is underway. We invite you to visit this website for updates on the progress.