THE MONTREAL/LAKE ONTARIO

SECTION OF THE SEAWAY

of the deep waterway, the St. Lawrence Seaway

T
he St. Lawrence Seaway, in its broadest
sense, is a deep waterway extending some proper extends from Montreal to Lake Erie.
3,700 km (2,340 miles) from the Atlantic
The Montreal/Lake Ontario section
Ocean to the head of the Great Lakes, at the
encompasses a series of 7 locks from Montreal
heart of North America. Strictly speaking, how-
(Quebec) to Iroquois (Ontario) enabling ships to
ever, within the meaning of the legislation which
navigate between the lower St. Lawrence River
provided for the construction and maintenance
and Lake Ontario.

Laker under Mercier Bridge

1
 HISTORY
T
he opening of the Seaway, in April of 1959,
marked the full realization of a 400 year-old
dream. In the early part of the 16th century,
Jacques Cartier, the French explorer, was turned
back by the rushing waters of the Lachine Rapids,
just west of what is now Montreal, and thus denied
his dream of finding the Northwest Passage and the
route to the East. At various times during the inter-
vening 300 years, canals have been dug and locks
built around the natural barriers to navigation in the
St. Lawrence River. This activity was spurred on by
the desire to make use of the economical transport
route which the waters of the Great Lakes Basin
offered for the movement of goods in and out of
this area of the continent.
The first efforts to open an inland navigation
route were pioneered by Dollier de Casson, Superior
of the Sulpician Seminary in Montreal as early as
1680. Notwithstanding the opposition of his supe-
riors and the apathy of local settlers engaged in their
struggle for survival, this man of vision and tremen-
dous energy finally succeeded, after twenty years, in
signing a contract for the construction of a canal to
link Lake St. Louis and Montreal. At Casson's
death, in 1701, his 1.5 m (5 feet) deep canal was
1.6 km (1 mile) long and could not be completed
during the French Regime because of lack of funds
although sporadic work continued until 1733. The
“Casson Canal” was not completed until 1824.
Thenceforth known as the Lachine Canal, it had
seven locks.
Between the years 1779 and 1783, four small
canals were built by Royal Army Engineers on the
north shore of the river to carry small vessels from
Lake St. Louis to Lake St. Francis. These canals
had a depth of 0.76m (2 1/2 feet) and a total of five
locks, each 1.8 m (6 feet) wide, the first ever built on
the St. Lawrence River and perhaps in North
America.
The building of the Erie Canal, in the
United States, early in the 19th century, provided
the incentive for the construction of additional and
deeper canals and locks along the St. Lawrence.
The American waterway, which offered a fast,
uninterrupted link between the growing industrial
heartland of North America and the Atlantic Ocean
through New York posed a serious threat to
Canadian shipping and, in particular, to the develop-
ment of the City of Montreal as a major port.
Renewed activity resulted in the opening of canals at
Cornwall in 1843 and at Beauharnois in 1845; an
improved Lachine Canal was also completed in
1848. In the Western section of the Seaway, the
first Welland Canal had opened to navigation in
1833 and was completed in 1848.
All in all, by the middle of the 19th century, a
continuous water route linking Lake Erie to the sea
was available to vessels of less than 2.4 m (8 feet)
draught. However, the economic growth and com-
mercial development foreseen by the canal diggers
did not materialize immediately. While dedicated
men dug canals and built locks, another group of
equally dedicated pioneers were also hard at work
building a railroad. The viability of water trans-
portation largely depends on the movement of a
large volume of goods over long distances. If the
embryonic seaway of 1850 could provide distance,
its depth and lock dimensions precluded the ship-
ment of heavy bulk cargoes aboard large vessels.
Further hampered by the constrictions imposed by
cold weather which often reduced the shipping sea-
son to a mere seven months in those days, the
fledgling waterway offered poor competition to the
growing number of locomotives steadily moving
men and goods through fog and snow. If inland
water transportation was to compete, it had to
modernize...and it did.
2
 Between 1850 and 1904 both the Lachine and
Welland Canals were deepened to 4.3 m (14 feet).
The Soulanges Canal, built to replace the
Beauharnois Canal, was completed in the early
1900s. Also 4.3 m (14 feet) deep, this section was
22.5 km (14 miles) long and contained five locks,
each 13.7 m (45 feet) wide and 85.3 m (280 feet)
long. A new canal was also constructed at
Cornwall. Miles away, at Sault Ste. Marie,
Americans and Canadians were hard at work on
their respective sides of the border building the
canals and locks that would link Lake Superior and
Lake Huron. Finally, by 1904, all the canals and
locks between Montreal and Lake Erie had the
same regulating depth of 4.3 m (14 feet) although
some of them - Sault Ste. Marie, for example - were
somewhat deeper.
The growth of the waterway throughout the
years had closely followed the evolution of the
Laker entering Lock 3 downbound in the Montreal/Lake Ontario Section.
Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River fleets - from
the fur traders' canoes to small sailing vessels to
schooners and, finally, steamers of larger and larger
size. In 1932, Canada completed the Welland
Canal, 43.5 km (27 miles) in length with a governing
depth of 7.5 m (25 feet). This canal and its eight
locks overcame the difference in level of 99.4 m
(326 feet) between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.
The construction of the Welland Canal marked the
first step in the completion of the Seaway as we
know it today. Although a great many improve-
ments have been made since then to increase the
efficiency of both equipment and operations on the
canal, the number and size of the locks have not
been altered. Several factors - in addition to the
enormous sums involved - prevented the simultaneous
completion of both the Welland Canal and the
Montreal/Lake Ontario section of the Seaway.
3
 CANADA-U.S.
NEGOTIATIONS
T
he St. Lawrence River flows mainly within the
Canadian borders and although its waters
were made available to the commerce of the
United States by several early treaties, it was not
until 1871, with the Treaty of Washington, that the
exact boundary line was established and rules of
navigation formulated. This is why most of the ear-
lier steps leading to a deep water route between the
Great Lakes and Montreal originated in Canada.
However, the rapid industrial expansion and popula-
tion growth that marked the continental interior
during the second half of the 19th century resulted
in drastically increased shipping requirements, espe-
cially for the movement of wheat and iron ore.
Public interest in the construction of a deeper
waterway on the St. Lawrence River was soon evi-
dent on both sides of the border. In 1895, the two
governments appointed a Deep Waterways
Commission to study the project and, two years
later, the Commission reported in favor of it.
The Commission's report was followed by a
series of engineering studies and, in 1909, a treaty
established the International Joint Commission, a
body that held considerably more power than its
predecessor. The advent of World War 1 inter-
rupted international negotiations as well as canal
improvement work on the St. Lawrence/Great
Lakes system. However, the war years provided a
number of factors that contributed to a stronger
movement to build the Seaway. New industries
were created, the Panama Canal opened to naviga-
tion, rail transportation could no longer meet all
requirements, foreign trade was steadily growing
and the need to generate more electric power was
ever increasing.
Nevertheless, government efforts in Canada
and in the United States, and the keen interest mani-
fested by industries located in the Great Lakes-St.
Lawrence River area during the following 35 years
were strongly opposed by influential rail and other
private industrial sectors in the United States. As a
result, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Deep
Waterway Treaty, signed by both countries in 1932
to provide the joint development of resources in the
interest of both navigation and power generation
was rejected by the United States Senate. After fur-
ther studies and urged on by the power needs created
by war production, Canada and the United States
signed the Great-Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin
Agreement in 1941 with the same object in view.
This Agreement, also submitted by the United
States congress to its Senate for approval, had not
been ratified by 1949.
Two years later, the Canadian Government
let it be known that Canada was prepared to pro-
ceed with an “all-Canadian” seaway as far west as
Lake Erie, once the means had been found to have
the power works constructed concurrently in the
International Rapids Section of the St. Lawrence
River. By December of 1951, the St. Lawrence
Seaway Authority Act and the International Rapids
Power Development Act were approved by the
Canadian Parliament, the first authorizing
the construction of navigation works on the
Canadian side of the river from Montreal to Lake
Ontario as well as in the Welland Canal, the second
authorizing the Hydro-Electric Power Commission
of Ontario (HEPCO) to join a United States power
generating entity in constructing the necessary
power works in the International Rapids Section of
the St. Lawence River.
In 1952, in order to get the power project
underway, the Canadian and United States govern-
ments submitted joint applications to the Inter-
national Joint Commission for the proposed power
development, on the understanding that the Cana-
dian Government would undertake to construct,
more or less concurrently, and to operate all the works
necessary to ensure uninterrupted 8.2 m (27 feet)
navigation between Montreal and Lake Erie.
4
Approval of this proposal was given by the Inter-
national Joint Commission in an Order of Approval
dated October 29, 1952.
In 1953, the U.S. Federal Power Commission
granted a 50-year license to the Power Authority of
the State of New York (PASNY) for the development
of the United States half of this power project.
Because the Order granting this license to PASNY
was contested in U.S. courts, it was not until June of
1954 that PASNY had clear authority to join
HEPCO in making a start on these works.
In the meantime, the United States Congress
had enacted the Wiley-Dondero Bill (P.S. 83-358)
which authorized and directed the Saint Lawrence
Seaway Development Corporation to construct, on
United States territory, all the 8.2 m (27 feet) naviga-
tion facilities required to get shipping around the
navigational barriers in the International Rapids
Section. The situation required close consultation
between the Canadian and American governments in
order to avoid a duplication of locks and canals. A
number of compromises and accommodations were
eventually worked out and embodied in a series of
Official Notes according to which the United States
agreed to build a canal and two locks on the United
Ocean-going ship in Seaway Channel near Kahnawake (Lake St. Louis in background).
States territory to bypass the Barnhart Island-
Cornwall generating dam at the foot of the Long
Sault Rapids and, in addition, to do some essential
dredging elsewhere, while Canada agreed to build a
lock and canal around the Iroquois Control Dam,
some 48.3 km (30 miles) upstream and, in addition,
to complete to a common standard all the necessary
navigation facilities in Canadian territory, namely
between Montreal and Cornwall and in the
Welland Canal.
After fifty years of extensive studies, discus-
sions and prolonged negotiations, work on the deep
waterway could proceed. The feelings of all
those whose efforts had led to the Seaway reality
were aptly expressed by the then Prime Minister of
Canada, Louis St. Laurent, who, at the official
inauguration of the construction project, stated:
“Rivers, together with mountains and deserts, have
been long considered as natural barriers which make
excellent national frontiers because they divide peo-
ples from one another. While this may still be true to
a certain extent, it is no longer the case as far as the
St. Lawrence River is concerned. More and more,
this great waterway has become a bond rather than a
barrier between Americans and Canadians.”
5
 CONSTRUCTION
T
he first sod on the St. Lawrence Power
Project was turned on August 10, 1954.
Work on the Seaway began in September of
the same year. The construction schedule for the
entire power and Seaway project was in great part
determined by both the Hydro-Electric Power
Commission of Ontario and the Power Authority of
the State of New York who were planning to start
joint operation in 1958.
In order to allow a 36.6 m (120 feet) clearance
to the vessels, the structure of four of the Montreal
area bridges had to be modified drastically without
interrupting the heavy vehicular and rail traffic to
and from the city. The digging of new channels and
extensive dredging to existing ones brought unfore-
seen difficulties - excavators uncovered rock forma-
tions that played havoc with standard equipment
and necessitated the creation of new methods and
the use of stronger machinery. The power develop-
ment, which called for the flooding of wide areas,
required the expropriation of some 260 km2 (100 square
miles) of land and the resettlement of entire com-
munities. In all, some 6,500 people were moved to
new homes while some 550 dwellings were trans-
ported to awaiting foundations in the newly created
towns of Long Sault, Ingleside and Iroquois. In the
Welland Canal, rock dredging during the winter
months brought the 7.6 m (25 feet) deep channel to
the 8.2 m (27 feet) governing depth of the Seaway.
All of the seven locks of the Montreal/Lake
Ontario section of the Seaway (St. Lambert, Côte
Ste. Catherine, Lower and Upper Beauharnois,
Bertrand H. Snell, Dwight D. Eisenhower and
Iroquois) as well as those of the Welland Canal, have
been built to the following standard dimensions:
Usable length 233.5 m (766 feet)
Usable width 24.4 m (80 feet)
Depth (over sills) 9.1 m (30 feet)
Seaway channels and canals were built to
minimum widths of 61 m (200 feet) when provided
with two embankments, 91.4 m (300 feet) when there
is only one embankment, and 137.2 m (450 feet) in
open reaches. Depth throughout is 8.2 m (27 feet).
By May 1958, the Iroquois Lock was in
regular use. The Snell and Eisenhower Locks, built
by the Americans at Massena, New York, became
operative on July 4 and on that same day, first power
came from the international Moses Saunders gene-
rating station.
On April 25, 1959, the icebreaker
“D'IBERVILLE” began the first through transit of
the St. Lawrence Seaway which was officially
opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the
President Dwight D. Eisenhower of the United
States on June 26 of that year. Today, the waterway
remains a fine example of the spirit of co-operation
that can exist between two nations and its successful
operation is a tribute to the ingenuity, capability and
perseverance of all those who had a hand in its
realization.
6
 THE SEAWAY TRANSIT
Ship entering downbound at St. Lambert Lock.
St. Lambert Lock
Starting in Montreal, ships travelling to des-
tinations in the Great Lakes will first transit the 7 locks
in the Montreal/Lake Ontario section of the
Seaway, beginning with the St. Lambert Lock.
Almost directly across Montreal harbour lies
the protecting dyke of the channel giving access to
the Seaway. This channel begins just east of the
Jacques Cartier Bridge (during Seaway construction,
this bridge was literally “jacked up” some 15.2 m
(50 feet) to provide the required clearance), passes
beneath the bridge and extends for 4.8 km (3 miles)
before reaching the first lock of the Seaway, the St.
Lambert Lock, located at the southern end of the
Victoria Bridge. An ingenious diversion system that
includes a lift span at each end of the lock allows the
heavy rail and road traffic to proceed uninterrupted
to and from the bridge.
The St. Lambert Lock lifts the ship some
4.5 m (15 feet) from the level of the Montreal har-
bour to that of the Laprairie Basin through which
the channel sweeps in a great arc, 13.7 km (8.5 miles)
long, between its protecting embankments to the
second lock.
Côte Ste. Catherine Lock
The Côte Ste. Catherine Lock lifts ships
from the level of the Laprairie Basin some 9.1 m
(30 feet) to reach Lake St. Louis. It allows naviga-
tion to bypass the swift Lachine Rapids. Its location
was carefully chosen so that it would not interfere
with any future utilization of the rapids for power
development. Beyond this second lock, the channel
runs 12.1 km (7.5 miles) before reaching Lake St.
Louis.
At one point along this channel tower the
piers which give the Honoré Mercier highway
bridge the necessary clearance for the large ships
using the Seaway. Further upstream is the Canadian
Pacific Railway bridge which had two lift spans
installed for the same purpose. These mobile spans
can be raised or lowered in less than two minutes.
The Beauharnois Lock
Having entered Lake St. Louis, ships sail on
for 19.3 km (12 miles) through dredged channels
before reaching the Beauharnois Locks, at the west
end of the lake. These locks bypass the Beauharnois
power plant (owned by Hydro-Quebec, the generat-
ing plant has a capacity of 1,656,860 kW) and lifts the
ship 12.5 m (41 feet ) in order to reach the level of
the Beauharnois canal. This 20.9 km (13 mile) canal
brings vessels to Lake St. Francis where they may
proceed westward for some 48.3 km (30 miles)
along dredged channels to the head of the lake.
7
 The U.S. Snell and Eisenhower Locks
Ships leave Lake St. Francis at its southwest
corner and soon cross the International Boundary,
opposite St. Regis, Quebec. Shortly after entering
the International Section of the Seaway, ships sail
under the Seaway International Bridge linking
Cornwall, Ontario and Massena, New York. Built
as part of the overall Seaway project, this toll bridge
is administered jointly by The Federal Bridge
Corporation Limited and The Saint Lawrence
Seaway Development Corporation.
A short distance away lies the Bertrand H.
Snell Lock, the first lock on the United States side.
There, ships are lifted 13.7 m (45 feet) into the 16 km
(10 mile) long Wiley-Dondero Ship Canal where,
after proceeding some 6.5 km (3.5 miles), they
reach the Dwight D. Eisenhower Lock to be lifted
another 11.6 m (38 feet) before entering Lake
St. Lawrence. This man-made lake forms the pool
from which Ontario Power Generation and The
New York Power Authority draw the water used in
the turbines of the international Robert Moses-
Robert H. Saunders power dam. The generating sta-
tion has a total capacity of 2,090,000 kW.
This is the last of the locks in the
Montreal/Lake Ontario section of the waterway. It
allows ships to bypass the Iroquois Dam and was
built mainly as a control lock allowing vessels to
St. Clair River
Lake St. Clair
Detroit River
“Soo” Locks
SEA LEVEL
Lake Erie El. 174.3m
Lake Superior /
El. 183.5m
Lakes Michigan & Huron El. 176.3m
Iroquois Lock
adjust to the water level of Lake Ontario.
Accordingly, its lift may vary between 0.6 m and
1.8 m (2 and 6 feet). After leaving this lock, ships
can continue on their journey though the Great
Lakes, passing the historic City of Kingston
before reaching Cape Vincent, which marks the
western extremity of the St. Lawrence River por-
tion of the Seaway. At this point, western ships
enter Lake Ontario. Ships can continue sailing
west on Lake Ontario, gaining access to the indus-
trial heartland of North America. Ahead lie the
modern harbors of cities such as Toronto and
Hamilton on Lake Ontario.
To gain access to ports on the other Great
Lakes, ships sail on to Port Weller, gateway to the
Welland Canal, at the southwest corner of Lake
Ontario. Having transited the eight locks of the
Welland Canal, ships now reach the ports of the
great cities of the mid-west, including Cleveland,
Toledo, Detroit, Windsor and Chicago. Finally
access to Lake Superior and the Canadian Lakehead
at Thunder Bay, and the U.S. Lakehead at Duluth-
Superior is gained via the four American Locks
(Poe, MacArthur, Sabin and Davis) at Sault Ste.
Marie which are administered by the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers.
The St. Lawrence Seaway Profile View
Welland Canal 8 Locks, 42km
Montreal / Lake Ontario Section
7 Locks, 300km
El. 6.1m
Montreal
Lake Ontario El. 75.0m
8
 LOCK PROCEDURE
S
hips remain under their own power at all
times and are each secured in the lock chamber
by a crew of St. Lawrence Seaway linesmen.
Once a vessel is safely moored, huge steel gates
close behind it and valves are put into operation to
fill or empty the lock by gravity flow. About 91 mil-
lion litres (20 million gallons) of water are required
SHIPS AND TRAFFIC
T
he locks of the Seaway can accommodate ves-
sels 225.5 m (740 feet) long, 23.8 m (78 feet)
wide and loaded to a draft not exceeding 8 m
(26 ft. 3 in.). The large lakers which make up the
inland commercial fleet bring iron ore from the
Quebec Labrador mining centres to the steel mills
located in the Great Lakes region. These same ves-
sels are used to carry grain to ports along the lower
St. Lawrence for transshipment aboard ocean ves-
sels destined for European and other world ports.
Other major commodities shipped through the
Seaway include corn, barley, soybeans and other
grains, coal, salt, stone and various mine products,
fuel oil, scrap iron and steel, newsprint and a great
variety of manufactured products.
The Seaway opened the North American
heartland to international shipping and vessels
from all over the world now make their way to St.
Lawrence and Great Lakes ports carrying the large
quantities of finished products, manufactured iron
and steel and general cargo imported by Canada
and the United States. Return voyages can include a
myriad of cargoes from the inland industrial centres.
and the time needed to fill a lock is approximately
9 minutes. As the new level is reached, the forward
gates are opened and, at a sign from the lockcrew, a
short blast of the ship whistle signals “cast off” and
the vessel proceeds out of the lock. Some 32 large
vessels can go through a lock on a very busy day.
The navigation season on the waterway now
extends from late March to late December. Since
the Seaway opened in 1959, new technologies
against ice formation in locks and canals have been
implemented and some 25 days have been added to
the shipping season.
Between the opening of the Seaway in 1959
and 1983, the Seaway carried 1 billion tonnes of
cargo. The rational utilization of ships which may
carry one commodity upbound (such as iron ore)
and a different commodity downbound (such as
grain) makes the Seaway a competitive mode of
transportation for a wide variety of bulk products
and project cargoes. Today, handling over 4,000 ship
transits per year, the Seaway carries well over
40,000,000 tonnes of cargo during a typical navi-
gation season.
9
TYPICAL METHOD OF LOCKING
A SHIP IN THE ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY

STEP 1 SHIP ENTERING

LOWER GATE OPEN
UPPER GATE CLOSED

STEP 2 FILLING OF THE LOCK

UPPER GATE CLOSED LOWER GATE CLOSED

INTAKE PORTS

CULVERTS FILLING EXHAUST

INTAKE VALVE DISCHARGE VALVE
PORTS PORTS
OPEN CLOSED

STEP 3 SHIP LEAVING THE LOCK

UPPER GATE OPEN LOWER GATE CLOSED

10
 A VITAL TRADE ROUTE

T
he area affected by the Seaway is larger than
all of western Europe and contains nearly a
third of the combined populations of Canada
and the United States. The waterway has created
thousands of jobs in related industries. Goods of all
kinds are shipped over long distances at a reasonable
cost by ships which remain the most energy-effi-
cient mode of transportation.
Although world market conditions may
result in tonnage fluctuations from year to year on
the Seaway, the future viability of the waterway is
ensured by the fact that it is first and foremost a
bulk-cargo route strategically located along the
border of two countries that are world leaders in
both agriculture and mineral resources.

Information Services
The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation
202 Pitt Street
Cornwall, Ontario K6J 3P7
CANADA

E-mail: marketing@seaway.ca
Home page: http://www.greatlakes-seaway.com
March 2003

11
THE MONTREAL/LAKE ONTARIO
SECTION OF THE SEAWAY

e
ridg
ier B
Cart
ues
Jacq
Montreal
Victoria Bridge St-Lambert
Old Lachine Canal St-Lambert Lock
Champla
in Bridge

Lake St-Louis Lap

r airie
Cô Bas

M
te in

er
OTTAWA St

ci
e-

er
Ca

&
Old Soulanges Canal th
er

CP
in
eL

R
Beauharnois Locks Beauharnois

Br
oc
k

id
ge
Valleyfield Beauharnois Canal

St-Louis Bridge
Valleyfield Bridge/
s
oi
nc
ra
-F
St
ke
La

Long Sault Cornwall

Ingleside
International Bridge
W S ne
Ei il ll
se ey D Loc
nh o k
ow nde
Morrisburg er ro
Massena U.S. Lo C
ck ana
Iroquois l (U
.S
.)
Iroquois Lock

Prescott Ogdensburg-Prescott Bridge

Ogdensburg U.S.

Brockville

1000 Islands Bridge

Alexandria Bay U.S.

Kingston

Cape Vincent U.S.

Lake Ontario

12
 THE WELLAND CANAL SECTION
OF THE ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY
T he chain of lakes and rivers used by early
North American explorers and Canadian
fur traders has evolved into the unique and
efficient water transportation route, the St. Law-
rence Seaway. Before the potential of these inland
waters could be fully realized, several turbulent
sections located at key points had to be
overcome or by-passed. The falls and rapids of
the Niagara River presented the major obstacle
to an uninterrupted waterway to the American
heartland. Until 1829, the only route from Lake
Ontario to Lake Erie included a lengthy portage
around Niagara Falls from Queenston to
Chippawa Creek.
To circumvent nature's wonder, a man-made
wonder was required. The Welland Canal, with
its eight large locks, was built to fulfil this need.
This canal system, the western section of the
St. Lawrence Seaway, ranks as one of the out-
standing engineering feats of the twentieth century.
The all-Canadian Welland Canal is the first
segment of the modern Seaway to have been
built. It connects two of the Great Lakes
(Ontario and Erie) and forms an integral part of
the deep waterway that allows large lakers and
ocean vessels to navigate to and from the heart of
North America.
1
 HISTORY
T he present Welland Canal, the fourth to be
constructed, reflects the evolution of the
North American shipping trade during the
past 174 years.
The First Welland Canal - 1829-1844
Much of the credit for building the first
canal goes to an enterprising businessman,
William Hamilton Merritt, of the then Province
of Upper Canada. It was the need for a regular
flow of water to his mills, coupled with the
proximity of the Erie Canal, in the United States,
that prompted Merritt to undertake initial
engineering studies. In 1824, convinced that the
construction of a canal was feasible, he founded
the Welland Canal Company which was financed
by government and private sources.
The first sod was turned on November 30,
1824, at Allanburg. Today, a commemorative
cairn located at the west end of Bridge No. 11
marks the location of that historical event. The
Welland Canal Company pressed on with the
gigantic tasks of earth excavation and marine
construction, made so much more arduous by the
limited tools available at that time. Five years
later, the schooner "Ann and Jane" completed the
first upbound transit, a two-day voyage.
2
 Wherever possible, natural waterways
became part of the canal. From Port Dalhousie,
on Lake Ontario, the canal followed the route of
Twelve Mile Creek through St. Catharines to
Merritton, and up the escarpment to Thorold. In
those early years of operation, the canal
terminated 8 km (5 miles) south of Thorold, at
Port Robinson on the Welland River. Ships then
proceeded east on the Welland River to
Colborne, was made the southern terminus of the
new 18 km (11-mile) cut. Completed in 1833, the
first Welland Canal was 44 km (27 miles) long.
There were 40 wooden locks with a minimum size
of 33.5 m by 6.7 m (110 x 22 feet) and a depth of
2.4 m (8 feet).
The maintenance of hastily constructed
wooden locks proved expensive for the Welland

This painting by J.D. Kelly was commissioned by Confederation Life Association. The schooner "Ann and Jane" is shown entering
Lock One, at Port Dalhousie when the Welland Canal opened on November 30, 1829.

Chippawa, and continued up the Niagara River to
Lake Erie.
As traffic increased, the canal was
extended directly to Lake Erie from Port
Robinson in order to avoid the strong currents of
the Niagara River. Gravelly Bay, now Port
Canal Company and toll revenues were not
sufficient. Appeals were made for additional
government assistance and, in 1839, the
Government of Upper Canada voted to purchase
the privately held company stock.

3
 The Second Welland Canal - 1845-1886
The purchase of the Welland Canal
Company was completed shortly after the Union
of the Provinces in 1841, and soon thereafter
plans were drawn for an improved Welland
Canal. Plans were also made for canals and locks
of similar dimensions in the St. Lawrence River to
provide a direct water route from Montreal to the
interior and thus join Quebec and Ontario.
Work began to increase the canal depth to
2.7 m (9 feet) and to reduce the number of locks to
27. The new locks were masonry structures 45.7 m
(150 feet) long and 8.1 m (26.5 feet) wide. The
route of the new canal was much the same as that
of the first since the channels and locks of the origi-
nal canal became the control weirs of the new works.
Concurrently, a canal of similar depth was
completed between Montreal and Lake Ontario
and, by 1848, navigation with a draft of 2.7m
(9 feet), was possible from Lake Erie to the lower
St. Lawrence River. By that time, steamers had
begun to replace sailing vessels; they were larger
ships and their number was increasing rapidly. In
1870, a Government-appointed Commission
recommended canal improvements. Its report
stated that "wheat, lumber, copper and iron from
the Upper Lakes would pass though the Welland
Canal in increasing amount were it not for the fact
that the larger boats cannot go through". The
report further pointed out that the existing locks
could not handle three quarters of the tonnage
that could come from the Great Lakes hinterland.
The Commission's recommendations gave
rise to the construction of the third Welland Canal
and related improvements on the St. Lawrence
River.
4
 The Third Welland Canal - 1887-1931
The third Welland Canal played an im-
portant role in the development of Canada's grain
export trade and its steel industry. Following the
same route as the second canal from Lake Erie to
a point 5 km (3 miles) above the escarpment, it
then left Twelve Mile Creek and followed a more
direct line to Port Dalhousie.
There were now 26 cut stone locks, each
82.3 m (270 feet) long and 13.7 m (45 feet) wide.
Originally, the limiting depth was to have been
3.7 m (12 feet) but it was increased to 4.3 m (14 feet)
during construction. These new works were
partially opened in 1881 but it was not until 1887
that the 4.3 m depth was available throughout. In
1889, nearly 2,000 vessel transits were recorded,
820 by steamships and 1,141 by sailing vessels.
(Maps on pages 2, 4 and 5 - Copyright 1970 by Jean and Allan Pritchard - Reproduced by special permission)
A distinctive type of vessel was developed
for use in the inland canal system. The Great
Lakes "canaler", a bulk carrier that is literally a
self-propelling barge, with machinery at the stern
and navigating bridge up forward, had a long,
almost box-shaped cargo hold between. The
"canalers" using the third canal had a maximum
length of 79.9 m (262 feet) and could carry as
much as 2 700 tonnes (3,000 tons).
Larger ships were also built to sail from
the Lakehead (Lake Superior) to Port Colborne
where their 13 500 tonnes (15,000 tons) of cargo
were transferred to several small "canalers".
However, it soon became evident that these larger
vessels should be able to move into the lower lakes
and, between 1907 and 1912, plans were made for
enlarging the canal once more.
5
 The Fourth Welland Canal
Studies led to the decision to build locks of
greater size and to reduce their number as much
as possible. An almost direct north-south route
was selected and the Lake Ontario connection was
moved to Port Weller, 5 km (3 miles) east of Port
Dalhousie. Since no natural harbour existed at
Port Weller, an artificial one was created with
embankments extending 2.4 km (1.5 miles) into
Lake Ontario.
Construction of the canal started in 1913,
was interrupted by World War I, resumed in
1919 and continued until 1932.
"It is a privilege to dedicate this canal to the
trade of the world. I hereby declare the Welland
Canal open to the commerce of the world."
Those were the words of the Governor General of
Canada, the Rt. Hon. Earl of Bessborough, as he
officially opened the canal, on August 6, 1932.
Into the lock chamber eased the
S.S."LEMOYNE", then the largest freighter on
the Great Lakes. Her holds were filled with
some 19 000 m3 (530,000 bushels) of wheat. The
S.S. "LEMOYNE" was 192.9 m (633 feet) long,
had a beam of 21.3 m (70 feet) and was sailing that
day on a draught of 5.9 m (19.5 feet).
6
 THE PRESENT WELLAND LOCKS

T he difference of 99.5 m (326.5 feet) between the levels of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie is now
overcome with eight locks and 43.4 km (27 miles) of canal. Each of seven lift locks has an
average lift of 14.2 m (46.5 feet) while Lock 8 at Lake Erie is a control lock with a shallow lift
varying from 0.3 to 1.2 m (1 to 4 feet) to make the final adjustment to the lake level.

Overall length of canal ......................................... 43.4 km (27 miles)

Total lift ................................................................ 99.5 m (326.5 feet)
Average lift of locks .............................................. 14.2 m (46.5 feet)
Size of locks (breast wall to gate fender) ............. 233.5 m (766 feet) long
24.4 m (80 feet) wide
Depth of water (over the sill) ............................... 9.1 m (30 feet)
(in channels) .................................. 8.2 m (27 feet)

The seven lifts are located in the northern 11.6 km (7.2 miles) section of the canal, between
Lake Ontario and the top of the Niagara escarpment. A 27.8 km (17.3 miles) man-made channel runs
through level ground to the shallow-lift control lock at Lake Erie. Piers projecting into the lakes
account for an additional 4.0 km (2.5 miles).

The Welland Canal provides more than half the lift needed between tidewater and the Lakehead.

WELLAND CANAL PROFILE

Lock Welland River Niagara Escarpment
Lake Erie 8 7 99.5 m
6 Locks
5
4
3 Locks
2
Average lock lift : 14.2 m 1
Lake Ontario

7
 IMPROVEMENTS
W hen construction of the St. Lawrence
River sections of the Seaway began, in
1954, the available governing depth
of the canal was 7.6 m (25 feet). To bring it to
Seaway standards, dredging was undertaken by
The St. Lawrence Seaway Authority to reach a
governing depth of 8.2 m (27 feet). On the other
hand, the lock dimensions of the Welland Canal
were adopted as the governing dimensions of the
Seaway locks constructed on the St. Lawrence
River during the 1954-1959 period.
With the increased traffic generated by
the completion of the Seaway, and the fluctuation
in the arrival rate of vessels, often combined with
unfavourable weather conditions, queuing
problems resulted signalling transit demand was
at times close to the capacity limit of the canal.
Early in the 1964 navigation season, a
coordinated program of operational improve-
ments and major construction work was initiated.
In 1967, a new traffic control centre using closed
circuit television and telemetry, considerably
improved the scheduling of vessels and helped to
reduce the lock cycle and round-trip transit times.
Other improvements included the installation of
variable intensity lighting along the southern half
of the canal, the automation and centralization of
controls at Locks 1, 2, 3, 7 and 8, the extension of
lock approach walls, the widening of several canal
sections, modifications to lock hardware and the
installation of navigation signal light displays at
the locks.
In more recent years, the capacity of the
canal has been further increased by the elimi-
nation of the guard gate south of Lock 7,
Thorold, which was made obsolete by the
addition of sector gates at Lock 7, and the
widening of the channel north of Port Robinson.
The same year marked the beginning of
the Welland Canal Rehabilitation Program. This
seven-year, $175 million project, funded by the
Government of Canada, covered the major civil
engineering refit of all primary facilities.
The Welland Realignment
By far the most beneficial improvement to
the Welland Canal was the construction of the
Realignment - often referred to as the "By-Pass" -
which opened to navigation in March of 1973.
This new channel replaced a 14.6 km (9.1 miles)
section of the Welland Canal that bisected the
City of Welland.
After studying various alternative
solutions, the realignment project was adopted.
Government approval having been granted in
May of 1966, the Authority immediately
proceeded to buy or expropriate the 2, 600
hectares (6,500 acres) of land required for the new
route. By the summer of 1967 the giant task was
underway. The main channel required the
removal of some 50 million m3 (65 million cubic
yards) of earth, clay rock and silt.
One of the first undertakings of the project
was the construction of a syphon to divert the
waters of the Welland River under the new
navigation channel. Building a new course for a
waterway, although not an easy task, is a common
engineering procedure today; making an
underground stream out of a full size river is
something else again!
8
 Located near the Port Robinson end of the highest transmission towers it has ever
the channel, the reinforced concrete box culvert constructed on either side of the channel. They
designed to meet this challenge is a four-tube were designed to provide passing ships a 36.6 m
syphon, 28.7 m (94 feet) wide and 194.5 m (120-foot) clearance under the high voltage cables
(638 feet) long. Founded on bedrock, it can they support. In addition, a modern lighting
accommodate a system was
maximum flow of strung along the
340 m3 (12,000 cubic sides of the new
feet) of water per channel to allow
second. Upon its safe transit after
completion, in the dark.
spring of 1971, the
waters of the As a
Welland River were replacement for
rerouted through a several docks on
new diversion the old canal
channel leading to which were used
it and the old river by local
bed was filled in. industries, The
St. Lawrence
Ancillary to Seaway
the main project Authority built a
itself was a major 305 m (1,000-foot)
revamping of the dock on the west
road and rail network in and around the City of side of the new channel near Ontario Road. It is
Welland. The rail relocation was the most built on steel supports, has a reinforced concrete
complicated and expensive since it involved the deck and it can easily handle the largest lakers and
building of 161 km (100 miles) of new trackage ocean vessels that use the canal.
and marshalling yards, a new station and freight
depots as well as a new control centre. The The Welland Realignment is a compa-
project necessitated the relocation of some 80.5 km ratively straight 13.4 km (8.3 miles) canal running
(50 miles) of north-south and east-west road south from Port Robinson to Ramey's Bend. It
arteries under the jurisdiction of provincial, provides a navigable 106.7 m (350-foot) width and
regional and municipal authorities. a 9.1 m (30-foot) depth, without any overhead
obstructions such as bridges, since all land traffic
The construction of the new channel, the is handled by two tunnels. The water level in the
two tunnels running under it and the road new channel is maintained at an elevation of 173.4 m
relocations called for the installation of new (569 feet) above sea level.
public utilities. Several miles of hydro, gas,
telephone and sewer lines had to be laid by the
various agencies involved. This phase of the
project gave the area new landmarks that are
visible for miles. Ontario Hydro erected two of

9
 The Present Welland Canal

Operations statistics bear evidence that the use of the Welland Realignment has resulted in
safer and faster navigation while the delays to highway and rail traffic have been nearly eliminated.
Furthermore, the foresight which went into the planning and design of the new channel will allow it
to be incorporated, with little or no change necessary, into any future canal improvement across the
Niagara Peninsula.

LAKE ONTARIO
NIAGARA-
ON THE LAKE
PLEASURE CRAFT DOCK
LOCK BRIDGE 1
1
N
LOCK 2 BRIDGE 3A

Q.E.W.
SKYWAY BRIDGE &
BRIDGE 4
ST. CATHARINES HWY. 8
LOCK 3
BRIDGE 5
VIEWING . 405
HWY. 20 STAND BRIDGE HWY
LOCK 4,5,6 6 (R)
(FLIGHT LOCKS)

THOROLD
LOCK 7
THOROLD
TUNNEL NIAGARA
GUARD GATE
HWY. 20

FALLS
BRIDGE 11

20
Y.
HW

PORT ROBINSON
CHANNEL

Q
.E
.W

WELLAND
.

EAST MAIN ST.

TUNNEL
SS
CANAL

BY-PA
OLD

TOWNLINE TUNNEL
(ROAD & RAIL)
FORT
ERIE
NEW

BRIDGE 19 HWY. 3
PORT LOCK 8 COLBORNE
HWY. 3 BRIDGE 19A
PLEASURE CRAFT DOCK & BRIDGE 21

LAKE ERIE

THE WELLAND CANAL

10
 LOCK PROCEDURES

S hips move under their own power during their entire transit of the Welland Canal and its locks.
Once a vessel has been securely moored in the lock chamber by a crew of Seaway linehandlers,
the huge steel lock gates close behind it and valves are put into operation to fill or empty the lock
by gravity flow. About 91 million litres (20 million gallons) of water are required for each lock transit.

UPPER GATE
LOWER GATE

FILLING VALVE EMPTYING VALVE

The time needed to fill a lock is approximately 11 minutes. As the new level is reached, the
forward gates are opened and, at a sign from the spotter, a short blast of the ship's whistle signals
"cast off" and the vessel proceeds out of the lock. Some 32 vessels could go through a lock on a very
busy day.

IMPORTANT TRADE ARTERY

V essels 225.5 m (740 feet) long, 23.8 m

(78 feet) wide and loaded to a draft of 8 m
(26 feet 3 inches ) now travel through the
Seaway locks. These large ships may carry as
much as 29 000 tonnes (32,000 tons) of iron ore or
38 700 m3 (in excess of one million bushels). Iron
ore and wheat constitute the most important
commodities carried through the canal and the
two-way nature of their movement, i.e. grain
downbound, iron ore upbound, is significant to
the economy of the Great Lakes region, and
indeed of the entire continent.
It is rather doubtful that the rapid
expansion of the Quebec-Labrador mining
complex would have taken place without the
Seaway, of which the Welland Canal was the
forerunner.
An efficient and cost-competitive Seaway also
plays a key role in strengthening Canada’s position
in global trade. Marine transportation is critical to
a number of export markets, including wheat
grown in the Prairies.
Grain is brought downbound through the
Seaway from Canada's Lakehead to ports on the
lower St. Lawrence River. After unloading wheat
destined for shipment to foreign ports aboard
ocean vessels, the lakers may be loaded with iron
ore at one of the nearby ports serving the great ore
fields of Quebec and Labrador. Fully loaded on
the return trip, the ships either take their cargo to
Hamilton or move up through the Welland Canal
to steel plants located on the shores of Lake Erie.

11
 Other bulk commodities carried through
the Welland include corn, barley, soybeans, coal,
fuel oil and other petroleum products. In
addition, project cargoes (i.e. a large gas turbine
assembly destined for a co-generation plant) also
utilize the Seaway in order to reach their
intended destinations.
The Welland Canal has played an
important role in supporting economic growth
throughout Canada. Since the opening of the
Seaway in 1959, tens of millions of tonnes of
cargo have been shipped every year via this
critical shipping channel. Latest traffic statistics
can be obtained on our Web site:
www.greatlakes-seaway.com. The Welland Canal
continues to be a vital artery connecting the major
industrial areas of the North American heartland,
thus providing a valuable link with the world's
trading nations. It generates an economic impact
of $222 million in the Niagara Region alone each
year and is considered one of the biggest
employers in the Region.

The Welland Canal Twinned Flight Locks

Information Services
The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation
202 Pitt Street
Cornwall, Ontario K6J 3P7
CANADA

E-mail: marketing@seaway.ca
Home page: http://www.greatlakes-seaway.com March 2003

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