By 1820 the navigations had fixed the worst of the barging issues, a road from the mines was systematically being improved easing the teamster's problems and the ventures began to make substantial money; by 1822 the two companies were combined into the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company and both the navigational works and the mule road were re-routed so they reached Mauch Chunk, the mule road high enough to dump coal by chutes into barges on the town's quay. By 1824 the company was flush with cash, had been further improving the lower river with two way locks— and seeking other sources, began buying more coal lands and eventually bought lands around Hazleton and Ashley and the saddle shaped mountain pass above at Penobscot, Pennsylvania (now Mountain Top) above both south Wilkes-Barre on the Susquehanna and White Haven on the Lehigh at the head of the gorge.