Soon after the Gowanus Canal was constructed in 1848 to facilitate industrial maritime operations in South Brooklyn, the corridor surrounding the canal developed as a thriving manufacturing area primarily reliant on barge service. The canal effectively bisects the neighborhood, and has five east-west crossings at Union Street, Carroll Street, Third Street, 9th Street and Hamilton Avenue.
Years of neglect and abandonment took their toll on the properties and streets abutting the canal; many of the streets continue to be in poor condition and bulkheads at the canal are deteriorating or have failed. However, the industrial business community has re-invested in the area significantly in the past ten years. The Gowanus Canal corridor is an area that has grown, and continues to grow, as a productive, jobs-generating center of economic activity. Since 1997 there has been over a 25 percent increase in the number of industrial firms and current estimates suggest that there are roughly 3,000 jobs in Gowanus industrial sector businesses.
The maritime industrial community along the Canal has also experienced a significant increase and has proven this waterway vital for the continued success of their businesses. Business in the area barge approximately 2,530,000 tons of product on the Canal each year, with 480,000 tons barged to and from businesses on the north side of the Hamilton Avenue Bridge, and another 2,050,000 tons barged to the south of the Hamilton Avenue Bridge.
Together, barging activity on the Canal and Gowanus Bay removes roughly 105,500 trucks from the road each year, which not only decreases congestion on our roadways, but allows industry to operate in a more environmentally friendly way.
Utilization of the Canal for industrial use is very much dependent upon improved dredging practices and restoration of deteriorating bulkheads. If such efforts are made, barging activity on the canal would surely continue to increase as existing and new businesses explore using the water, instead of trucks, to move heavy materials. |
