Great Lakes: Their Link With Ocean Shipping (1948)

of all the Earth's large land masses North America has the most remarkable system of interior waterways they are the Great Lakes being connected to each other and the Atlantic Ocean they offer a water route reaching over a thousand miles into a region with vast natural resources major population centers and intensive Industrial Development Lake ships loaded with iron ore coal grains and many other Commodities Supply raw materials and carry the products of important cities like Chicago Detroit Cleveland Buffalo and many others Lake Transportation has had a major part in making these cities among the largest in America this is the traffic pattern of the Great Lakes the Lion's width indicating the approximate volume of cargo the St Lawrence River drains the lakes and connects them with the vast ocean Commerce yet only a thin trickle of shipping joins the lakes with Ocean trade through this Outlet two natural barriers limit this traffic the first is Niagara Falls the waters draining Lake Erie flow swiftly across the Niagara ismos finally becoming a rapid and then pouring over our Bluff in 160t waterfall below the Falls are more Rapids for almost 300 years man has struggled to get ships past this obstacle as early as 1824 a canal with 39 locks was built to bypass the waterfall the canal was repeatedly enlarged as Lake traffic increased in 1932 the fourth and newest Canal was finished it is the Welland ship canal for many miles the canal runs across the flat upper level of the ismos the Wellen Canal is entirely on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes it descends the High Bluff in a series of Seven Locks at the steepest portion three locks are connected end to end to speed traffic a double flight of locks has been built at this point the double locks can handle Shi ships in both directions simultaneously a canal lock is a chamber separated from upper and lower Canal water levels by a watertight gate to lower a ship a lock is filled to the upper level the upper gates open and the ship enters when the gates are closed a heavy cable beneath this Fel boom prevents ships from drifting and damaging lock Gates the water is drained through tunnels under the lock when the level equals the lower Canal the lower gates open and the Ship Sails out the routine is reversed to Raisor ship in this empty lock the concrete shelf below the gates is an extension of the floor of the canal above the lock when the lock is filled a ship drawing 30 ft of water can sail over that shelf water fills the locks by gravity from the canal above electric power allows one man to operate the huge Gates and valves for each lock each of the seven main locks has a lift of over 46 ft it requires about 20 minutes to raise or lower a ship therefore the camera has speeded up this locks action 100 times to show the routine more clearly with this Splendid Canal large ships can easily pass around Niagara Falls but the route to the sea is still not open after Crossing Lake Lake Ontario ships meet an equally difficult obstacle in the St Lawrence River below Lake Ontario the river channel is separated by many islands here the beginning of a swift current may be seen a short distance Downstream the current is still more rapid this tanker's speed is only slightly faster than the current near the riverbank when it accidentally swings out into the swifter main current the steamer is carried Downstream backward not until the ship regains the slower side current can it again move Upstream Rapids in many sections of the river make navigation impossible at such places canals run beside the river occasionally they must step through a lock to remain at River level the these locks were built many years ago when ships were small and traffic light today they're extremely inadequate many of the locks have old wooden gates which are opened and closed by hand winches the flow of water is controlled by hand operated valves ships in the St Lawrence trade are often built to the maximum size which will fit these locks no safety cable protects the lock gate a lookout on the ship calls back to men operating The Mooring winches in order that the ship may be stopped just a few inches from the gate yet there is barely room at the stern for the lower gates to close tight moing lines are needed to prevent the ship from drifting into the gate some locks are operated by a crude power system a few are fairly modern yet even these cannot compare with the Wellen Canal the largest Great Lake Steamers are over 600 ft long and the Wellen locks about 200 ft longer but the St Lawrence locks are only 270 ft long and 14 ft deep far too small for either great lakes or ocean freighter this then is the effective barrier these small locks prevent the full use of the modern Wellen canal and so large ships still cannot reach the sea the St Lawrence canals have not been improved mainly due to the cost of enlarging both canals are in Canada but the United States has much more shipping and a vastly larger population on the Lakes than Canada and therefore is expected to pay over half the costs such an expenditure has not been approved nor is there agreement on the exact plan at present in 113 M of river there are 48 mil of r Rapids bypassed by six canals each with several locks the lower most are at the Leen Rapids opposite the city of Montreal 400 years ago these Rapids barred the French explorer easy progress Upstream so they established Montreal at this spot the last of the locks thread between the city's waterfront buildings the small St Lawrence femur at last reach deep water the docks of Montreal more ocean freighter from sea ports all over the world behind this line looking tiny in comparison is one of the St Lawrence steamers at Montreal almost all cargos must be transferred between ships or Railways here is Canadian wheat it was grown hundreds of miles Inland and is now being loaded on a ship Bound for Europe these box boxes of paper are going to New Zealand these automobile tires to England bars of copper go aboard another ship all these things come from the Great Lakes area it would be much cheaper and faster for man if this handling were not necessary but these products and countless others whether being sent to or from the Great Lakes region by sea must be trans shipped because of the St Lawrence barrier to direct shipment below Montreal a dredged channel accommodates all but the largest chips and Below Quebec the natural River depth will float the greatest chips built the St Lawrence widens and deepens for 400 miles and then at last the Waters of the Great Lakes meet the sea but the traffic of the Lakes has not met the traffic of the sea in any large volume because of the two obstacles the Niagara Falls barrier has been overcome by the modern Wellen Canal eventually the canals and locks of the St Lawrence will be enlarged then Midwestern cities a thousand miles from the Atlantic will become sea ports lowered shipping costs to this great Market will Aid American industry and Agriculture and the use of Midwestern resources removing the last barrier between the great lakes and the Sea will benefit every American in some way and have a favorable influence on the economy of many nations