6/9/10 - Soo Locks @ Sault Ste. Marie, MI

You watch in amazement as the large freighters move through one of the busiest lock systems in the world. They allow vessels of many types and sizes to safely traverse the 21-foot drop in elevation of the St. Marys River between Lake Superior and Lakes Michigan and Huron. The first lock was built in the late 1700s by a Canadian company on the Canadian side of the river. It was destroyed in the War of 1812. A private American company built locks on the US side of the river in 1853. Those locks were turned over to the State of Michigan in 1855. In 1881 the locks were transferred to the US government giving jurisdiction to the US Army Corps of Engineers. Currently, the Corps operates the locks toll free to any vessel wishing to pass through the St. Marys Falls Canal. More than 11,000 vessels, carring up to 90 million tons of cargo pass through these locks every year. Many different types of vessels lock through the system varying in size from small passenger vessels and workboats to large 1,000 foot ships carrying more than 72,000 tons of freight in a single load. Most cargo contained in these ships is either iron ore, coal, grain, or stone. One 1,000 foot Laker is equal to: Six 100 car trains with a 10,000 ton capacity each or 2,308 large trucks of 26 ton capacity each.

The water has been lowered 21 foot and the gates are opening into Lake Huron.

This freighter was the Stewart J. Cort, the first 1000 foot vessel on the Great Lakes. This was the one that we watched coming up from Lake Huron, going through the locks and then into Lake Superior, they are HUGE!

This ship was from the Netherlands.