nearby locations. Nearly 12-and-a-half miles (20 km) of a local railroad line (the Ulster and Delaware Railroad) was moved and cemeteries were relocated. The dam was constructed mainly by local laborers, as well as African-Americans and Italian immigrants, who also did the job of razing most of the trees and buildings in the area. Fights would often break out in the labor camps where the crews would eat and sleep, so a police force, which would later become the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) Police, was established to keep peace in the camps. The dam was constructed with Rosendale cement, which at the time was the world's strongest cement. When the dam was completed, giant steam whistles blew for one hour, signaling to people in the valley to evacuate immediately. Some relocated communities survive along the reservoir's banks, such as West Shokan, Olivebridge, Ashokan and Shokan. Most, however, such as Brown's Station, are remembered in historical markers along routes 28 and 28A. Statistics The resulting body of water is the oldest New York City–owned reservoir in the Catskill Mountains, being placed into service as long ago as 1915. It is located at the eastern end of Ulster County, being about west of Kingston, New York, and approximately north of New York City. The reservoir is one of NYC's largest according to its surface area and volume. At full capacity, the reservoir can hold of water, has a 255-square-mile (408 km2) drainage basin, and is over 180 feet (54.9 m) deep at its deepest point, making it the city's deepest reservoir. The reservoir is encircled by Routes 28 and 28A, along with many relocated villages. It is separated into two basins by Reservoir Rd., which has a causeway that runs over the middle of it. Water does not pass freely between the two basins, and the eastern basin, which borders the relocated villages of Ashokan, Glenford, and West Hurley, along with the non-relocated village of Stony Hollow, is seven inches lower than the western basin. The western basin borders the relocated villages of Boiceville, Brodhead, Olive, Olivebridge, Shokan, and West Shokan. There is also an abandoned road that runs along the spillway of the reservoir, where water runs back into the Esopus Creek by Olivebridge. Some of this water comes from the Schoharie Reservoir via the 16 mile (25.6 kilometre) Shandaken Tunnel, which empties into the Esopus Creek.