A Coast Guard follows a cruise ship through the locks in late August. The locks are closed between January and March each year due to ice. Photo: Carol Terracina Hartman
With more than 10,000 vessels traversing the Locks each year, the Soo Locks allow a variety of ships to pass from Lake Superior to the lower Great Lakes efficiently and safely. The Soo Locks are located on the St. Marys River between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, between Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Ontario, Canada. They bypass the rapids of the river, where the water drops 21 feet. The Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge between the United States and Canada permits vehicular traffic to pass over the locks.
I wanna cruise that bridge!
I want to experience what you’ve said about locks Ken. What kind of trip it will be. Thanks for sharing your pictures with us!
Locks are amazing feats of engineering. I’ve often wondered, though, why don’t we use the same concept for hydroelectric power? Instead of blocking an entire river, which destroys the river ecosystem and floods valuable land, etc., why not just block part of a river (as a lock can), which could create enough head to run a turbine? This would leave the river ecosystem largely intact. Does anyone know if this has been tried before?
As for the locks, they are amazing feats of engineering…but it’s a shame that they enabled the proliferation of invasive species that we have in the Great Lakes today.
For those of you who have not seen the locks, it is well worth the trip,