Soo Locks

Woke up today, and although it was a little cool and they were predicting showers, I decided to go for it and book the 2 hour boat tour of the Soo Locks. The Soo Locks are actually on the St. Mary's river that connects Lake Superior to Lake Huron. Sault Ste Marie actually comes from the French meaning little waterfalls (or rapids) on the St. Mary River. I am glad they told me what Sault mean or I would never have known. The first settlers were Indian tribes that fished the rapids, in canoes, not less. White Fish is abundant in these waters at all times of the year. Most of the rapids are now diverted to the hydro electric plant or have become part of the locks.



There is a 23 foot drop from the upper St. Mary River to the lower St. Mary. That is why the locks are needed to get ships from one lake to the next. We were directed to the lock on the far left. This is the MacArthur Lock. It is 800 feet long, 80 fee wide and has a depth of 32 feet. This lock was build in record time of only 14 months during WWII. Most locks take 10 years to build. The Lock to the right was built for the super freighters. The super freighters sailing on the Great Lakes, can be as long as 1000 feet and be 105 feet wide. Our guide said "when a super freighter goes into the Super Lock, there is only 2 1/2 feet on either side of her. Pretty snug foot. The guide book said that crew members use small golf carts or bicycles to get from one end to the other. A thousand feet is like 3 football fields. Another interesting fact was, there is no charge to go through the locks. This is one of the most inexpensive ways to move cargo. She also said that a ton of cargo can be shipped for the average price of a fast food meal. Now that is a bargain! The super freighters only work the Great Lakes. They can not fit through the smaller passage near Niagara Falls to be able to make it to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence Seaway.

This is the Edison Sault Power Plant


The St. Mary's River and a large portion of Lake Superior are covered in 1 to 5 feet of ice during the winter months. Because of this, the locks are closed from Jan 15th to March 25th each year. Once spring arrives, the US Coast Guard ice breaker, Mackinaw go through the locks and into Lake Superior to clear a path for the freighters to start coming back through. The ice breakers lead convoys of ships through the ice.



This ship was turned into a museum.


This ship is actually a barge with a tug boat assist at the back.


The international Railroad Bridges are actually several types of bridges at different sections of the river. Above the first and second lock is a lift bridge.
Above the third and forth lock canalis the bascule (jack knife) bridge. It is the larges bascule bridge in the world. The two bridge sections are evenly balanced with large concrete blocks. You can see them in my picture. It is that large block shaped thing on the left of the section.



The third type rail bridge is the swing bridge. Trains run over these rails at least twice a day but unlike running on land, they do not have right of way.......ships do.

I took a few videos, but I think these two are the best. The first shows how quickly the water is drained out of the lock. It only takes about 20 minutes to drop the level 23 feet



And this one shows the lock gates opening to let us out.