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LOCKS AND CHANNELS There are seven new locks in the St. Lawrence River, five in Can- ada 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 speci- fications are: Tyeast wall to gate fender ................ 766 Feet its may not exceed 730 feet in overall length) Width ...... Fe reek eee eee nase we 80 Feet Depth over Sills ......-.- sees eee e cece e ence eens 30 Feet Locks: Lift BT ooo tee e neces ee eweees 13 to 20 feet Me Fe CAUNOTING «1611.6 i eee cee eee wean 33 to 35 feet Were ORUNAINOIS 2... 6.6... ee eit eee euees 38 to 42 feet Upper Beauharnois ............... see eee cece eee 36 to 40 feet ee 45 to 49 feet ee 38 to 42 feet yy os eee cee teers cen esess 5 to 6 feet The locks at the Welland Canal have the same controlling dimen- sions as those in the new Seaway--Montreal to Lake Ontario. Locks 1-7 of the Welland Canal are lift locks. Lock #8 is essen- tially a guard lock. Locks 4, 5, 6 are twinned and in flight. Welland Canal is 27 miles long, overcomes a difference in level of 326 feet, between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The controlling channel dimensions for the Seaway, Lake Erie to Montreal, are: | Depth to a minimum of 27 feet--to permit transit of vessels draw- ing 25 feet (fresh water draft). Width of channel: (a) When flanked by two embankments ......... 200 feet minimum (b) When flanked by one embankment ........... 300 feet minimum fe) In Open reaches ..............csceeeceeeees 450 feet minimum MAXIMUM SIZE OF SHIP PERMITTED TO TRANSIT THE SEAWAY Ships up to 715 feet in overall length and with a beam of 72 feet are permitted to transit the Seaway without restrictions or special instructions. Ships not exceeding 730 feet overall and 75-foot, 6 inch extreme breadth may transit the Seaway. Vessels' masts must not extend more than 117 feet above water level. PRE-CLEARANCE OF VESSELS: Every vessel shall be pre-cleared by its representative with The St. Lawrence Seaway Authority before transiting the Seaway. ("Representative" means the person representing the vessel using the Seaway and responsible for the vessel and the payment of tolls and includes the owner, charterer or agent.) Transit means to use the Seaway in whole or in part, upbound or downbound. Before transit a security deposit must be made and in the case of one vessel shall be sufficient to cover gross registered tonnage of that vessel at $1.00 per ton for transit each way. A transit is not a "round-trip" but consists of a trip upbound or downbound whether any such trip is complete or partial. Therefore, security to cover a vessel that is to travel upbound or downbound under the same pre- clearance will consist of an amount equal to $2.00 for every gross registered ton of the vessel. Every transiting vessel must be adequately insured. The actual oon and control of the vessel remain the responsibility of the master, A copy of the current issue of the St. Lawrence Seaway Masters' Handbook shall be kept on board every vessel transiting the Seaway. NAVIGATION SEASON: Winter weather and ice conditions do not permit year-round operation and the navigation season on the Seaway will open and close on the following dates each year: Open Close Montreal - Lake Ontario April 15 November 30 Welland Canal April 1 December 15 BACKGROUND OF THE ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY AND POWER PROJECTS LA 400 year old dream was realized when, in April of 1959, ships *gan using the St. Lawrence Seaway. ' The St. Lawrence Seaway in its broadest sense is a deep water- ending some 2300 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to the head . e Great Lakes at the heart of North America; strictly speaking, iia within the meaning of the legislation which permitted con- ction to get underway, the St. Lawrence Seaway extends from ontreal Harbour to Lake Erie and includes the Welland Ship Canal. es 243 3. In the early part of the sixteenth century the French explorer, Jacques Cartier, was turned back by the rushing waters of the La- chine Rapids just west of what is now Montreal and was thereby forced to abandon his dream of finding the Northwest Passage and the route to the rich and glamorous East. At various times during the intervening 300-odd years, canals have been dug and locks built around the natural barriers to navigation in the St. Lawrence River and in the waters connecting the Great Lakes. This activity was spurred on by the desire to make use of the economical water route which the waters of the Great Lakes Basin offered for the transpor- tation of goods in and out of this important area of the continent. The first such canals were built in 1783 but were only two feet deep. By 1850, 9 foot canals had been completed in Canada right through to the Upper Lakes. By 1900, 14 feet was the regulating depth in these canals, although certain of them--Sault Ste. Marie, for ex- ample--were deeper. In 1932 Canada completed the Welland Ship Canal, 27 miles in length with a governing depth of 25 feet in some reaches. This canal and its eight locks overcomes the differences in level of 326 feet between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. Its construc- tion may be considered as the first and a decisive step in the con- struction of the present St. Lawrence Seaway. 4. The needs of commerce pointed to the desirability of providing even greater depths in the St. Lawrence Canals, its locks, and the connecting channels, and by 1959, as a result of the joint efforts of the Canadian St. Lawrence Seaway Authority and the United States Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, 27 foot depths were available from Montreal to Lake Erie. The improvements to the Welland Ship Canal between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie around the barrier of the Niagara Falls have been the sole responsibility of the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority. Deepening the channels above Lake Erie to seaway standards is proceeding apace, and by 1963, 27 foot depths will be available into the Upper Lakes. 5. Concurrently with this development, the Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario (HEPCO) and the Power Authority of the State of New York (PASNY) have completed works in the Interna- tional Rapids Section of the St. Lawrence River to convert into elec- tricity the energy that once expended itself by tumbling through the Rapids west of Cornwall. When all turbines have been installed and are in production at the Barnhart-Cornwall generating plants, these works will be producing 840,000 kw in each country. History of Negotiations Making These Achievements Possible 6. Negotiations between Canada and the United States aimed at developing these twin resources of the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes for the benefit of both countries began towards the end of the last century, although, as has been shown, piecemeal develop- ment of navigation by Canada in the Great Lakes Basin started cen- turies ago. Power was first developed at Niagara at the turn of the century. In 1912, the Canadian Government decided to improve the Welland Canal to provide 27 foot depths with locks 800 feet long and 80 feet wide. Work began in 1913, was suspended during the first World War, and was finally completed at a cost of approximate- ly $143 million in 1932. In the same year, Canada and the United States signed the St. Lawrence Deep Waterway Treaty which was to provide for the joint development of the resources in the Great Lakes Basin in the interests of both navigation and power. In 1934, this Treaty was rejected by the United States Senate. 7. After further studies, and urged on by the power needs created by war production, Canada and the United States signed the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin Agreement in 1941 with the same object in view. This Agreement, which like its predecessor was submitted to the United States Senate for approval, remained unratified by 1949. 8. The 1941 Agreement was intended, amongst other things, to per- mit the development, as a joint project, of the power resources avail- able at Niagara Falls, where, over the falls alone, 160 feet of drop is available for the production of power. Since there was little prospect by 1949 that the Agreement would be approved, a separate treaty was signed and ratified in 1950 setting forth the principles under which the water in the Niagara River could be turned into power by Canada and the United States. 9. At more or less the same time the Canadian Government let it be known that Canada was prepared to proceed with an "all-Cana- dian" seaway as far west as Lake Erie, once the means had been found to have the power works constructed concurrently in the In- ternational Rapids Section of the St. Lawrence River. By December of 1951 the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority Act and the Interna- tional Rapids Power Development Act were approved by the Cana- dian Parliament, the first authorizing the construction of navigation works on the Canadian side of the river from Montreal to Lake On-