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A FEW HISTORICAL FACTS AND THE CANALS--Continued feet long, of 26 foot beam and nine-foot draught to descent for the first time from Lake Erie to Montreal. This may be regarded as the Second Welland Canal. The construction of the Third Welland Canal was begun about 1873 by the Canadian Government and completed to 14-foot depth in 1887. The entire enlargement of the St. Lawrence Canals to this depth, however, was not completed until 1901. A ship of 256 feet long, of 43 foot beam and drawing 14 feet could then ascend from Montreal to the head of the Great Lakes. This canal had its northern terminus at Port Dalhousie. In 1913 work was begun on the Welland Ship Canal. Construc- tion was suspended in the fall of 1916 due to World War I, but was resumed after cessation of hostilities and completed in 1932. This canal had its northern terminus at Port Weller instead of Port Dal- housie, 3 miles west. Successive Welland Canals First Canal--40 wooden locks, 110 feet long, 22 feet wide, eight feet of water over sills, completed 1829. Second Canal--27 cut stone locks, 150' by 26% by 9', completed 1845, isa Canal--26 cut stone locks, 270' by 45' by 14', completed Welland Ship Canal--8 concrete locks, six of dimensions 859' by 80' and 30 feet of water over sills, completed 1932. (One lock is 865 feet long and Lock No. 8 at the Lake Erie end of the Canal is 1,380 feet in length). Inside useable length, between breast-wall and upper gate fen- der of locks is usually expressed as 765 feet. Lifts vary from 43.7 to 47.9 feet, except at Lock No. 8 where the lift is a maximum of 12 feet, applicable only under special conditions on Lake Erie. Locks 4, 5 and 6 are twin locks in flight and permit uninterrupted passage of upbound and downbound traffic. When the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway was begun in 1954, the available governing depth of the Welland Ship Canal was 25 feet throughout. Work undertaken by The St. Lawrence Authority has resulted in a governing depth of water of 27 feet throughout. Port Dalhousie is still in operation as a port, together with Lock 1 of the Third Canal, by means of which vessels may enter the reach that has been common to the Second and Third Canals. Traffic Comparisons 1901 (Third Canal) 620,000 tons (upbound and downbound) 1928 (Third Canal) 7,400,000 tons (upbound and downbound) 1932 (Present Canal) 8,500,000 tons (upbound and downbound) 1940 (Present Canal) 12,900,000 tons (of which 11,100,000 down- bound) 1950 (Present Canal) 14,700,000 tons (of which 12,000,000 down- bound) 1958 (Present Canal) 21,274,000 tons (of which 16,268,600 down- bound) 1959 (Present Canal) 27,536,588 tons ( which 17,873,586 down- ound) 1960 (Present Canal) 29,249,689 tons oe oe 20,876,975 down- ound) LOCKS AND CHANNELS There are seven new locks in the St. Lawrence River, five in Canada operated by The St. Lawrence Seaway Authority of Canada, and two in the United States operated by the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. All locks are similar in size. The sepecifi- cations are: Lengths, breast wall to gate fender ....... ....4.2..... 766 Feet (Ships may not exceed 730 feet in overall length) Width 750.000 ee 80 Feet Depth over sills -2..° 0... 30 Feet Locks: Lift Bt. Lambert)... 64. 13 to 20 feet Cote Ste. Catherine Lower Beauharnois Upper Beauharnois 33 to 35 feet 88 to 42 feet 36 to 40 feet ORONO Ne SES RO Te OCR OOOO 0 Oe eC Mw ee ee, OO 8) Oli we: O06 te: 0 @. 018 0 801 0.0 O OO ee 8 ee Oe OO ufo Or OleOle) 62 8 Or we, eee ee eee ee Snell. 3 45 to 49 feet Hisenhower (202 5..2. 26). 55.0.2 ee 88 to 42 feet TPOQHOIS 35 oe a a 5 to 6 feet 471