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Home » Life » History » Four workers nearly died building the Bayard culvert that’s now at the center of debate in Seneca Falls

Four workers nearly died building the Bayard culvert that’s now at the center of debate in Seneca Falls

As discussion continues around the future of the culvert underneath W. Bayard Street in Seneca Falls, a piece of local history was uncovered by a local resident.

A story from the Geneva Times said to be dated June 1915 highlighted the near-fatal effort to install that culvert.

Four workers were rescued as rains caused a ‘swirl’ of rushing water under the culvert – approximately 20 feet below ground.

The story notes that the workers were ‘completely exhausted’ when pulled from the water.

“A score of men have been at work erecting a cribbing just south of the culvert, which passes under Bayard Street and empties in the waters of the old canal below the Ovid Street locks,” the story reads.

More than 100 years later, the condition of the drainage line is in question, and Town Engineers are working to understand what its options are. The Canal Corp. has denied responsibility.


Check out the full story in the image below: