Another sure sign of spring arrives tomorrow. One that’s important to commerce in Michigan’s Great Southwest, especially with road construction season getting underway. The harbinger of spring this time is the re-opening of the Soo Locks, launching the 2017 Great Lakes shipping season.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, announced today that the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, will open tomorrow, Saturday, March 25, marking the beginning of the new shipping season.
Kevin Sprague is Area Engineer at the Soo Area Office for the Army Corps. He reports, “The up-bound Motor Vessel Stewart J. Cort, a U.S. Flagged 1,000 foot freighter, is expected to be the first ship to enter the Poe Lock,” and, he adds, “It will be followed by the down-bound Motor Vessel Phillip R. Clarke.”
Lt. Col. Dennis P. Sugrue is District Engineer for the Detroit District of the Army Corps. He tells us, “Navigation is the primary mission of the Detroit District and the Soo Locks is an essential component of the Great Lakes Navigation System.” Sugrue adds, “Thanks to our entire dedicated district team in Sault Ste. Marie, for successfully completing another massive winter work program in order to ensure reliability of this critical Great Lakes connection.”
The locks are key to Great Lakes shipping which brings major loads of aggregate material to the St. Joseph-Benton Harbor port throughout the season, and those are materials critical to the infrastructure improvements slated for roadwork planned by the Michigan Department of Transportation as well as many other construction materials that arrive by water.
The locks were closed by January 15th and underwent critical repairs and maintenance during the 10-week long winter shutdown. Extensive work was performed replacing embedded gate anchorages and finalizing the switch-over to a new hydraulic operating system on the Poe Lock. Other major efforts included sandblasting, structural repairs and painting MacArthur Lock dewatering bulkheads and several other smaller projects. 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.
In the photo accompanying this story on Moody on the Market, the Innovation arrives in the St. Joseph River Channel bound for the LaFarge Company docks opposite the Margaret B. Upton Arboretum on the evening of August 6, 2016, accompanied by jet-skiers, sailors and several pleasure boaters along the St. Joe waterfront.
