| As we travelled across Canada nearly two years ago we
stopped at the locks on the Canadian side of Sault Ste Marie. Most of the
commercial shipping now travels through the 4 sets of locks on the US side.
The earlier locks were much smaller but even then were able to take two
ships at once. This is a model in the Michigan side visitor centre of
the State locks which were begun in 1853 and completed in 1855. They were
350 ft long and 70 ft wide. They were owned by the State of Michigan until
1881 when they came under federal control. The model is based upon a photo
taken in the 1870s. |  |
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The ships have increased in size until today the largest ships only just fit
in the locks and cannot fit in the locks of the St Lawrence Seaway. This is
a model of the E G Grace, a typical bulk freighter. |
| You can get boat tours through the locks. This is one
of the tour boats. We could not see it when it came into the lock. |  |
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The upper lock gates open to allow a ship in. The locks have a drop of about
9 metres and it takes less than 20 minutes. for a ship to pass through. Part
of the reason for this short timescale is that the amount of water to move
is quite small because a laden ship virtually fills the lock. There is less
than 5ft width to spare and 50ft in length. |
| This is the Algoisle creeping along the lock side as
it approaches the lock. The ship rubs along the lock side to ensure it
enters straight since it only has 5ft clearance. Above it is the
international road bridge to Canada, and behind that is the railway bridge
between the countries. This is a lifting bridge and you can see it coming
back down in the next photo. |  |
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The ship approaches very slowly, at less than walking pace. The men walking
alongside are holding ropes and in constant communication with the ship.
There is also an officer at the front quarter ensuring that the ship just
rubs along the lock side. |
| Now it is creeping into the lock proper. The Algoisle
is Canadian registered, is 730ft long and 70ft wide, and has a draft of
26ft. It is fully loaded and weighs 18,000 tons and carries a cargo of
24,000 tons. Her usual cargo is grain but she can also carry coal and iron
ore pellets (taconite). |  |
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Once inside the lock it needs to stop very quickly which is why it crawls
in. There is less than 50ft clearance to the protective booms just in front
of the gates. The Algoisle was built in 1962 in Cork, Ireland and was
originally named the Silver Isle. It was the first 'laker' to be built with
all the accommodation at the back. She joined the Algoma fleet in 1994. She
has a single 19ft propeller driven by a 9000hp MAN diesel and a bow thruster
and can travel at 19knots. She was laid up from 2000-03 as a result of a
downturn in the grain market. |
| Her captain is Danish and his Danish wife was standing
beside us as the ship went through the lock - she had crossed from Canada
just to be able to see her husband as his ship passed through. The voyages
take about 17 days. Several of the wives travel with the ship. She was
through the lock in 20 minutes and on her way down through lake Huron. |  |
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