By June, 1823, the canal was open from Rochester to Schenectady, and when the season opened 220 miles were navigable. During 1822 all but ten miles of the route along the Niagara River had been put under contract and the great Genesee aqueduct had been erected. Toll to the extent of $3,286 was collected in this year on the eastern part of the Western Section--at Lyons, Palmyra, and Rochester. By the middle of November water had been admitted into the Eastern Section and boats were afloat from Little Falls to Schenectady. Water was admitted into the stretch of canal between Brockport and Rochester, October 10, 1823. The forty-five miles from Brockport to the Mountain Ridge (Lockport) was well along; the four great embankments in this distance were nearly complete; that at Sandy Creek was the highest on the entire canal, running up seventy-six feet. The tolls in 1823 between the Genesee and Seneca amounted to $20,954.11, showing the large amount of business done. As the last year before completion (1824) opened, all eyes were directed to two points in the west which were each difficult puzzles. One was the means of crossing the Mountain Ridge at Lockport and the other was the best way to get into Lake Erie. Finally the latter question was settled for better or for worse by letting the contracts for the Black Rock harbor. The work went slowly at the Mountain Ridge, but the contractors promised that the work there would be completed by May, 1825. The tolls this year between Mantz and Utica amounted to $77,593.26, and the tolls on the Eastern Section totaled up to $27,444.09. Water was admitted into the canal between Schenectady and Albany in October; the work here, which included twenty-nine locks, had been found unexpectedly difficult. On October 8, 1823, the first boats passed from the West and the North (Lake Champlain canal) through the junction canal into the tide water of the Hudson at Albany. On September 8, 1824, water was sent into the canal from Brockport and Lockport; the line to Black Rock and the Black Rock harbor was completed nearly on scheduled time. Among improvements of the year must be named the hydrostatic locks built at Utica and Syracuse. The tolls of 1824 were $294,546.62. The grand canal was completed. The completion was a signal for a royal celebration throughout the state of New York which is, in many aspects, of great historic interest.[39] Its unique details, the non-participation of many, the violent rejoicings of others, the carrying out of symbolic ceremonies not unlike Roman pageants, all these and many other features of the great show have a deep significance. The political element entered largely into the matter.