Editing Canal pound (section)

===Level walkers and repairs===
American canals often had a man called a "level walker" (Chesapeake and Ohio Canal), "bank watchman" (Erie Canal), towpath walker<ref name="Oldtowpath310">{{cite book|last=Harlow|first=Alvin F.|title=Old Towpaths, The Story of The American Canal Era|url=https://archive.org/details/oldtowpathsstory00alvi|year=1926|publisher=D Appleton & Co.|location=New York & London|page=[https://archive.org/details/oldtowpathsstory00alvi/page/310 310]}}</ref> or inspector whose job was to walk along the pound (level) with a shovel, checking for leaks and repairing minor ones before the leak could cause major damage, and calling the section work crew for major ones. His rounds were about 20 to 24 miles daily.<ref>Kytle, Elizabeth. ''Home on the Canal'', Cabin John, Md. Seven Locks Press, c. 1983. P. 270</ref> [[Muskrats]] would cause leaks by burrowing in the canal, as well as competitors such as stage coach lines or teamsters who would sabotage the canal by digging holes in the bank.<ref>{{cite book|last=Garrity|first=Richard|title=Canal Boatman My Life on Upstate Waterways|year=1977|publisher=Syracuse University Press|location=Syracuse, NY|isbn=0-8156-0139-5|pages=30}}</ref> Other duties included checking the waste weir gates to see if they were letting out the correct amount of water, checking aqueducts for damage, as well as being called in the night to search for missing persons supposedly drowned in the canal.<ref name="Oldtowpath310"/>

If a break or leak was discovered and the level walker could not do repair it himself, he sent a message to the section superintendent or headquarters, and the section crew with a repair scow would come. These boats carried clay straw, takes, rope, wooden boards, and tools (picks & shovels).<ref name="Oldtowpaths311">Old Towpaths, 311</ref> For culverts and flood gates, a row of heavy planks, interlocked with tongue and groove, would be driven across the canal (similar to a cofferdam) above and below the break, and would swell when wet.<ref name="Oldtowpaths311"/> After the water drained out through the break, it would be repaired. If the break was in the bank or berm of the canal, the crew would drive two rows of stakes, about a foot apart, across the breach, then weaving rope between them. Straw was put in it, and that would slow or stop the water flow. A row of planks were then driven to stop the flow, and then the break would be filled with dirt and rocks.<ref name="Oldtowpaths311"/>

Burrowing animals, such as [[muskrats]], would cause leaks by digging holes. [[Indiana]] canals had leaks from burrowing [[crawfish]].<ref name="Old Towpaths, p. 310">Old Towpaths, p. 310</ref> Canal companies would often post bounties for muskrats, e.g. the Middlesex Canal.<ref name="Old Towpaths, p. 310"/>