Happy Friday!
I hope that you had a great week as we head into the last weekend of June!
Having lived in Central New York State for 22 years, and taken a beautiful boat cruise on the St. Lawrence River in the Thousand Islands, I somehow missed out on the fact that the St. Lawrence Seaway was not only man-made, but made relatively recently in history, at least compared to the Erie Canal which opened on October 26, 1825 (something special about the 26th day of the month and waterways in that region?). U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower (born in Dennison, Texas, yee hah!), Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the St. Lawrence Seaway on June 26, 1959, with a short cruise aboard the royal yacht HMY Britannia. It had already been in use for two months, with the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker D'Iberville being the first ship to pass through it.
The St. Lawrence Seaway connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. It was joint U.S-Canadian project that took 5 years to make. It completed a waterway from Duluth, Minnesota (on western Lake Superior) to the St. Lawrence River, providing a connection to all the Great Lakes suitable for oceangoing vessels. The Welland Canal, first constructed in the early 1800s preceded it, but was too small for the passage of large oceangoing ships. It was enlarged four times prior to the Seaway's construction.
The first proposals for a binational deep waterway were made in the 1890s but it took a long time for the two countries to finalize an agreement, which was finally approved in 1954.
Considered one of the greatest engineering feats of the 20th century (and one of the least talked about), the Seaway is 2,340 miles long and is completely above sea level. 22,000 workers were involved in its construction. It involved the removal of 210 million cubic yards of earth and rock, and pouring more than 6 million cubic yards of concrete. The St. Lawrence River portion has stretches of navigable channels, locks and canals that bypass rapids and dams. Because of depth limitations and limited lock sizes, only 10% of modern oceangoing ships can traverse the Seaway's entire length.
Legally, the Seaway extends from Montreal to Lake Erie; the section from the Atlantic Ocean to Montreal is under Canadian jurisdiction and the St. Lawrence River section is co-managed by the two countries.
The economic impact of the seaway is tremendous for both countries. 40-50 million tons of cargo traverse the waters, half of which travels to international ports in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The other 50% of cargo traffic is for trade between American and Canadian ports. Cargo moving through the Seaway, including iron ore, grain, petroleum and other commodities, supports $50 billion in US economic activity and sustains over 356,858 jobs. International cruise lines also transit through the Seaway.
While the Seaway provides recreational opportunities, such as boating, camping, fishing and scuba diving, there were negative environmental consequences as well. The zebra mussel and other invasive species of aquatic animals entered the Great Lakes Basin, finding their way into smaller rivers and city water facilities. It is subject to weather conditions, being closed during the winter because of ice and snow.
That boat ride on the St. Lawrence in the beautiful Thousand Islands is very memorable for me. Looking over the water and seeing the sun set, we decided to get a cabin on Keuka Lake (one of the Finger Lakes), so I guess it cost us a lot more than the ticket for the ride in the end. But it was worth every penny – although we sold it when we moved to Texas, it's still my happy place.
Have a fantastic weekend!
Deb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItAxKVP3jlU&t=87s