 The original canal was 22 feet wide and four feet deep, and had 9 locks, each 75 feet long and 20 feet wide, which allowed shipping to go around the Great Falls in the Connecticut River by being lifted 52 feet (16 m) around the gorge.River traffic declined after railroads were built to the Connecticut Valley in 1849, and by 1858 the canal had become used almost exclusively for water power to run the paper mills which became established there.In 1874 the canal was enlarged to 75 feet wide and 17 feet deep.