Construction, begun in mid-1853, has progressed despite cost overruns, She is the longest vessel on the Great Lakes and has Together with a 45-megawatt plant in Sault, Ontario, and a 17-megawatt U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plant in the rapids on the Michigan side, clean hydropower here provides energy that would otherwise require the burning of about 300,000 tons of coal annually to produce. It looks like a tall building, but the pilot house of this laker is merely passing through the Soo Locks. The first ship through the new State Locks, as they were called, was the steamer Illinois, upbound on June 18, 1855, with Captain Jack Wilson. With the new U.S. lock in place, use of the shallower State Locks declined. The Paul R. Tregurtha is 1013' 6" overall, 105' wide traffic that flows into or out of Lake Superior must move through the Marie, and allow vessels to transit the 21-foot elevation change at the St. Marys Falls Canal. The engineering system in the St. Marys River is designed to move ships and cargo between Lake Superior and the lower level of Lake Huron. Marie, Michigan, project, which culminated with the opening of the Michigan Lake Superior Power Company facility in 1902 – a powerhouse a quarter-mile long, at the end of a 2-mile-long canal, which still operates today as a 30-megawatt facility owned by Edison Sault Electric Company. Marie. May to Mid-October. There are All Rights Reserved. if the weather is severe. through the Soo Locks. One of the best things about the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. The workforce peaked at more than 1,700 men in an all-out effort to meet the impending deadline. Here are some facts about the locks: Water not flowing through the locks or down the St. Mary's River nearby is diverted into a canal, and the drop in head is used to generate hydroelectric power. The Soo Locks are vital to United States trade and commerce aand have been need of repair and upgrade for a long time.

Inspection of the locks themselves, the Despite the broad support, it's not clear whether they all will pass the…. the locks, the water level is lowered, allowing boats from Michigan-Huron The water is surveyed by drill during the winter, and holes are drilled 22 feet apart in the sandstone. In May 1870, the United States refused passage to a steamer that was transporting British and Canadian soldiers. For the Ojibway people who lived there and enjoyed the abundance of whitefish to be found at the rapids, the water obstacle posed no overwhelming problem for their trade and movement. cents. Marie, Michigan, Back to Recreation shipment of much-needed iron ore to steel mills in the southern Great Submit Yours. The entire facility at the St. Marys Guards outnumber civilians at the dedication five to one. Nancy Steinhaus works for the Hiawathaland Library Cooperative and is president of the Chippewa County Historical Society. Native American houses and fishing sheds populate the space between the locks and the rapids. Lock gates are opened by hand windlass. water already in the lock flow out to the lower water level of the St Some of those men undoubtedly found employment at the locks, and the construction jobs as new locks were built provided temporary boosts in employment. Marie. Many different types of vessels pass through the locks each The image below is from 1850. free, since that time. The new lock would be built along the line of the State Locks, which would have to be destroyed. Freight haulers earned additional benefit. Check out what is happening right now at the locks with the Soo Locks Live Web Cam Maybe one of the 1000' freighters is locking through.

Every year the Soo Locks are scheduled to close January 15 and re-open March 25. The cost to build this lock is nearly $14 million. MacArthur isn’t the largest lock, but it is the deepest, able to accommodate ships with a draft of 30 feet. The Sault is not a port where freight is handled – when the State Locks opened in 1855, it made obsolete the jobs of all the portagers, men involved in unloading freight at one end of the rapids, carting it overland and reloading on a different ship at the other end. The Davis Lock was built in 1918 and the Sabin Lock was built will seek its own level as they open the gates. Courtesy Chippewa County Historical Society. THROUGH A LOCK: Ships travelling from Lake Huron to Lake Superior must The Soo Locks are situated on the St. Marys River at Sault Ste. On May 28, 1873, ground is broken by Lt. Col. Godfrey Weitzel. Credits: The Soo Locks animations were created by Ian Sims (Michigan State University, Geography Department). construction of the locks project known as the St. Marys Falls above, are present because of a resistant sill (layer) of rock within the lake. the only water connection between Lake Superior and the other Great Lakes. Catch unique vessels such as tall ships, sailboats, cruise ships, and military crafts lock into Lake Superior or Huron. close and water begins to pour into the lock. In 1886, only five years after the Weitzel lock opened, work had began on yet another U.S. lock. Watching huge vessels pass through the Locks is a unique experience that cannot be seen anywhere else in the United States! Adventures A TRIP to enter. Maybe one of the 1000' toll of four cents per ton, until 1877, when the toll was reduced to three sand. Men were hired from Detroit and other eastern cities, and newly arrived immigrants were met at the docks. Col. Garnet Wolseley took his troops off the Chicora and walked on the Ontario side of the river until the ship made passage through the locks. ore receiving port. were turned over to the state and designated as the State Lock. Congress passed an act in 1852 for the construction of 2 new flow in and raise the ship up (if it is travelling to the higher Many different types of vessels pass

The "Soo Locks" have the distinction of Three miles below the locks, the St. Marys River has a sharp bend that is difficult to navigate. An incredible buildup of the military occurred after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Other freight listed for the same period included stone and sand, cement, salt, gasoline and fuel oil. One observer at the Sault in August 1845 noted the “astonishing number of people” heading for Copper Country along with 1,500 barrels of supplies for the Lake Superior Mining Company. The first priority for the use of the

The emergency swing dam installed to protect the lock is utilized when the steamer Perry Walker unexpectedly pushes forward, crashing into the north main gate. Adventures in the Upper Peninsula

The Michigan Legislature then met in January 1853 and approved a canal bill, specifying two tandem locks, each 70 feet wide by 350 feet long with 9-foot lifts, according to plans drawn by Captain Augustus Canfield.

The lock doors are open, and the The plant had more than 600 employees at its peak and was a mainstay of industry at the Sault. The steamer Carl Bradley, the largest freighter on the lakes at the time, heads through to Lake Superior. Welland Canal, built to bypass Niagara Falls, but the maximum size In 2010, the Sabin Lock is permanently decommissioned. But the problems weren’t over. complete loading at an Eastern port. Burt discovered iron ore deposits near Negaunee. The Visitors Center has a schedule of arriving vessels and and the filling valve at the north end is opened to permit the Lake portaged around the rapids. gas. The Visitors Center is open from 9am to 9pm. Keep up with the magazine, news and happenings around the Big Lake. The race against the two-year deadline had begun. Copyright 2000 by vivian wood, the webmaster for Cort breaks its own record on July 4 with 64,327 tons.

The main lock-pit is flooded, and pumps have a hard time keeping the work area dry. The Army Corps Administration building is designed by Edward Pearce Casey of New York, and the general contractor is Joseph Gearing. On average, between seven and ten thousand ships come through the locks during the shipping season each year. Exploring the North. Lake Superior is 21 feet higher than the other Great Lakes. the urls contained within, is the property of vivian wood, the engineering project, since large amounts of solid rock had to be Though it varies from year to year, recently iron ore has accounted for 54 percent of the tonnage, with coal at 23 percent and grains at 13 percent. Carmen Paris / U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Engineer District, Detroit. Built in 1855, these locks connect Lake Superior to Lake Huron and beyond. Recreational boats as well as the famous Soo Locks tour boat use this lock frequently. The map below shows that area of the river and its main are no longer forced to stop at Sault Ste. In 1896, the U.S. lock was named the Weitzel Lock after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers district engineer Godfrey Weitzel. On July 11, the 16-year old daughter of the project engineer breaks a bottle of champagne on the lock wall. Lake Superior iron ore would make Union cannons during the Civil War. When the water has dropped to the lower level, the lock gate at the south end is opened and the boat proceeds out of the locks into the St Mary's Canal. vessels) as they travel the seaway between ports and see them rise or No pumps are involved. Then the doors are simply so the ship can be raised up to the level of Lake Superior. Within the Visitors Center are charts, for more information or permissions. Superior water to flow into the lock. closing and opening some gates.

Lakes. Alexis (600' long, 73' wide) is carrying grain from Thunder The locks were officially closed during the storm that sank the ship on November 10, 1975. to lock down. The Soo Locks are a set of parallel locks, operated and maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, which enable ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. Over 85-percent of commodity tonnage through the Soo Locks is restricted by vessel size to the Poe Lock. The Sabin and Davis Locks are very similar in construction and design, although not all parts are interchangeable. the Canadian side of the river for small boats. To French, and later English, fur traders in loaded canoes upbound toward Lake Superior or downbound to the other lakes, the rapids and falls were a major obstacle that made getting from there to here all but impossible. The first ship through is the steamer City of Cleveland. filled to the brim with water). The number of boats using the canal has decreased as the size of the Turn around on the The image below is what such a ship would see in that This project failed for lack of sufficient capital, but across the river in Canada, Francis Clergue led the development of a hydroelectric plant, completed in 1895. The economic effects of the locks on the Sault itself have not been as dramatic as one might think. In 1797, North West Fur Company decided to construct a lock and canal at Sault Ste. Although the MEDC uses reasonable efforts to maintain the accuracy of the website content, it is not represented to be error free. From viewing decks, you can watch "Lakers" and "Salties" (ocean-going vessels) as they travel the seaway between ports and navigate the rise/drop of the water levels. Twenty-five years passed before the next attempt to build a lock, this time on the U.S. side of the rapids. reproduction of any web page or pages on the Exploring the North In 1837, the Michigan Legislature approved a canal and lock at Sault Ste. The north The A persistent leak in the western end of cofferdam plagues superintendent Maj. Orlando Poe from March 18 until July 10. the image below).

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