Port Colburne, Ontario

Locks at Port colburne

Day 10, Wednesday, August 22, 2001

Part Of The St. Lawrence Seaway

2:30 PM: We arrive at Port Colburn Lock to see a barge canal that connects Lakes Erie and Ontario. The Welland Canal only has to traverse the width of the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario. It's much shorter and more economical than the Erie Canal in New York State build for the same purpose.

The Seaway extends from Montreal to Lake Erie. Its canals and locks include the Welland Canal's eight locks. The St. Lawrence Seaway links the Atlantic Ocean and the St. Lawrence River to Lake Ontario and the four upper Great Lakes.

The sign pictured above illustrate the relative differences in the water levels of the Great Lakes. Lake Huron and Lake Michigan connect at the Mackinac Bridge, so their levels are the same. The illustration shows the locations of the various locks needed to make the Seaway work. The purpose of locks is to raise and lower ships as they go between bodies of water that have different levels.

The draw-bridge is in the right foreground. We're looking north toward Lake Ontario.

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