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Welland Canal to Open in 1930 Great Ship Canal Connecting Lakes Erie and Ontario— Depth Over Sills, 30 Feet—Usable Length of Locks 820 Feet been made during the past year in completing the new Welland ship canal, across the Niagara penin- sula, connecting Lake Erie at Port Colborne with Lake Ontario at Port Weller. It is located about ten miles west of Niagara Falls. The dif- ference in level between the two lakes is 326% feet. The new canal is en- tirely within Canadian territory and the work is being paid for and car- ried out by the Canadian government through its department of railways and canals. Word has been received from Alex. J. Grant, engineer in charge, that the canal will be open from lake to lake sometime in 1930 if everything goes well. Build Second Welland Canal The Welland canal is one of the principal links in the great chain of navigation extending from the Straits of Belle Isle up the St. Lawrence river and through the Great Lakes to Duluth at the western end of Lake Superior, a distance of 2339 miles. ‘The first canal connecting the two lakes was built as a private enterprise by the Welland Canal Co. under the leadership of William Hamilton Merritt and was completed in 1829. It had 40 wooden locks, each 110 feet long, 22 feet wide with eee progress has GUARD LOCK. Chippawa reek. 8 feet depth of water on the sills. It was connected by a feeder canal to the Grand river and later was extended from Port Robinson to Port Colborne on Lake Erie; the latter section being opened to navigation in 1833. This canal was 27% miles long from lake to lake. In 1841 the original Welland canal was purchased by the Canadian gov- ernment and arrangements were made to enlarge it for 9-foot navigation and also to complete the St. Lawrence canals between Lake Ontario and Montreal. The original 40 wooden locks were, by increasing the lifts, reduced to 27 locks which were built of cut stone, each 153 feet long, 261% feet wide with .9 feet depth on the sills. A commission appointed by the Dominion government recommended in 1870 a uniform scale of navigation for the St. Lawrence route and a Wel- land canal with locks 270 feet long, 45 feet wide and 12 feet of water on the sills. This later was increased to 14 feet. The work of enlarging ‘this third Welland canal was carried on to these dimensions. Its_ locks are built of cut stone with lifts of 12 to 14 feet. It is carried over the Chippawa creek at Welland by a cut stone aqueduct. This third canal, Oe 575.0 GUARD GATES. LOCK N°Z 26% miles long was opened to traffic for 14-foot navigation in 1887, ° and the St. Lawrence river canals in 1901; when the Northwestern Steam- | ship Co. of Chicago placed a fleet of four steamers of 2000 tons capacity in commission between Chicago and Europe. A number of times the boats were loaded to slightly over the 14 foot limit. New Canal Will be Fourth Growth of tonnage passing through the Welland canal has been enormous. In 1901 it was only about 620,000 tons; in 1914 it had increased to 3,860,000 tons. Since then except for the war years, traffic has grown rapidly year by year with a new maximum annual tonnage record of 5,640,298 tons established in 1925. The short-sighted policy of 1870 left the canal as much out of date in 1887 as it was when the improve- ments were begun in 1873. For many years, therefore, serious thought has been given to the improvement of the Welland and St. Lawrence canals to such dimensions that ships of at least 25-foot draft could pass through. Thus came about the fourth Welland canal now nearing completion. Work on this great project commenced in 1913. This fourth and real ship canal ee ee oO | Seton lor HPT 500.07 ep ONS eA Saag ~ ate WAY) Dostum line scot above Sea level Cg ORR se SPORE eens candela GENERAL DIMENSIONS. 450 | Letflelakelolake psmttes. Mamber of LittLocks. 7 #00 Lotte width 200LeCh Guard Lock. v4 Be LOCK N22. LAKE ONTARIO. Width AWalerliw = wo Lee: Guard Gales Z pees | Depth of Gial. | esloe7sleeh = Usable length of Locks. CEO TER : | 0 ee ith on Lock stlls 30 feel: Usable Width of Locks, _ Slee, oe ye Litt of each Lithloh. 46.5. Leech Heth of Lock walls above ils 81. 5 Leet: z ; m zo0o\| Datum line 2002/0 shove sea level. | MS YY ‘ LS ¥ aN N q Lap) 5 tte. eg & t <a) ° | = ELEVATION AND PLAN OF NEW WELLAND SHIP CANAL. USABLE LENGTH OF LOCKS 820 FEET, WIDTH 80 FEET 26 MARINE REVIEW—January, 1929