Soo Locks

Sault St. Marie is known for the Soo Locks, so we decided to check it out. Now I have never seen how these locks work up close, just on TV. We got there just in time to have a beautiful demonstration of how this works. When we arrived the lower lock was closed and the water inside the waterway was a lot higher then on the other side.

Just as we got there, two boats came into the canal and then the show started. The upper locks slowly closed and the water level was at 52'.


As the water slowly lowered inside the canal, we could see it rushing out on the other side of the lower lock. By the time it was all done, they had lowered the water level by 20'



Now the lower lock opened and the boats went on their merry way. As they left the canal another boat was coming up the lake and the whole procedure started the other way around. I felt like a kid in the candy store. I have a new found respect for the Corp of Engineers who built and maintains these canals. There is actually four canals, but they were using only the first one when we were there. It was a totally cool experience to see live how this works.

All in all we had a great day and were looking forward to going to Mackinaw Island the next day.