The 2019 Great Lakes shipping season has officially begun, and the St. Joseph River channel into the inner harbor will once again welcome the sight of major freighters hauling aggregate materials for road construction and maintenance and many other commodities into the local harbor after being closed down for the deepest part of winter.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, announced this morning that the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, opened today Monday, March 25th, marking the official beginning of the 2019 Great Lakes shipping season.
Jeffrey Harrington is Operations Section Chief for the Soo Area Office of the Army Corps. He says, “The up-bound Motor Vessel Stewart J. Cort, a U.S. Flagged 1,000 foot freighter, is the first ship to enter the Poe Lock.”
Lt. Col. Greg Turner is District Engineer for the Detroit District of the Corps. He says, “Maintaining navigation on the Great Lakes is one of the Detroit District’s core missions and the Soo Locks is really the linchpin of the Great Lakes Navigation System.” Turner adds, “While we are aggressively moving out on building the new lock at the Soo, we must remain focused on keeping the existing infrastructure in good working order. The incredible team of dedicated professionals in Sault Ste. Marie and Detroit, deserve our thanks for successfully completing another massive winter work program. I couldn’t be more proud.”
The locks were officially closed on January 15th and underwent critical repairs and maintenance during the 10-week long winter shutdown. Extensive work was performed on the Poe Lock including weld inspections and repairs on the upstream gate, replacement of anchorage links for the dewatering gate, minor repairs and inspection on the intermediate and downstream gates, and underfloor drainage cleaning.
The MacArthur Lock underwent repairs to the filling and emptying valve bulkhead slots and replacement of anchorage links for the dewatering gate and intermediate gate. A formal periodic inspection was also completed. The MacArthur Lock, located on the south side of the Poe, will continue undergoing maintenance until mid-April.
The Detroit District operates and maintains the Soo Locks along with 94 harbors and connecting channels on lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, St. Clair and the portion of Lake Erie that borders the state of Michigan. Located on the St. Marys River, Michigan, the locks have been a part of the Corps’ navigation mission since 1881.
Fans of the massive freighters that make their way into Michigan’s Great Southwest can once again get their cameras ready for the new shipping season, while industry once again resumes a steady flow of critical materials to the region, including road building materials for multiple counties around the region.
The photo accompanying this story on Moody on the Market shows a freighter offloading gravel in the Benton Harbor Ship Canal just off the confluence of the St. Joseph and Paw Paw Rivers and is a file photo for illustration purposes only. That ship is not currently in the harbor.
