Soo locks

Soo Locks between Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, USA (right) and Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario) , Canada (left)

Satellite image of the Soo Locks

The Soo Locks are lock systems on the Saint Marys River near Sault Ste. Marie on the border between Canada and the United States . The lock is located at the connection between Lake Superior and Lake Huron , as well as the other Great Lakes .

A first lock was built in 1798 by the Northwest Trading Company on the Canadian side, but was destroyed in the British-American War in 1814 . In 1837 the Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie of Michigan State and completed in 1855. Michigan operated the facilities until 1881. After the completion of the Weizel Locks , the American Soo Locks passed into the administration of the federal government of the United States and have since been operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers .

Historical consequence of the lock systems after their commissioning:

• 1855 - State Lock : Built by the State of Michigan , 107 m long and 21 m wide
• 1881 - Weitzel Lock : Built by Alfred Noble under the direction of Gottfried Weitzel from the US Army Corps of Engineers, 157 m long and 24 m wide
• 1895 - 1st Canadian Soo Lock : Built after disagreements between Canada and the USA, it is 274 m long and 18 m wide
• 1896 - 1st Poe Lock : The State Lock was converted to a length of 244 m and a width of 30 m
• 1914 - Davis Lock : As the size of the ships increased, a wide lock was necessary, which was finally 411 m long and 24 m wide
• 1919 - Sabin Lock : Shortly before the completion of the Davis Locks , construction of another identical lock began, the Davis and Sabin Locks were the first with concrete walls
• 1943 - MacArthur Lock : Conversion of the old Weizel Locks to 244 m length and 24 m width
• 1968 - 2nd Poe Lock : Conversion of the 1st Poe Locks to 366 m length and 34 m width
• 1998 - 2nd Canadian Soo Lock : After the historic lock was damaged in 1987, it was closed. A smaller new building within the old one, 77 m long and 15 m wide, is only used for tourist boats today

Sault Ste, crossing the Soo Locks . Marie International Bridge was opened on October 31, 1962. In November 1966, the Soo Locks were given the status of a National Historic Landmark under the name St. Mary's Falls Canal .

The lock systems now handle around 10,000 ships per year.

Web links

Commons : Soo Locks  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Soo Locks History. US Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District
• Soo Locks Visitors Center. US Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District
• Saint Marys Falls Ship Canal (Soo Locks Historic District, Soo Canals). State of Michigan

credentials

1. ^ Soo Locks History. ( Memento of the original from January 31, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. US Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District. Retrieved August 5, 2017. 
2. ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Michigan. National Park Service , accessed August 15, 2019.
3. ↑ USACE - Detroit District - Facts ( January 10, 2011 memento in the Internet Archive )

Coordinates: 46 ° 30 '12.1 "  N , 84 ° 21' 2.9"  W.