by Guest » October 30, 2018, 12:06 am
I don't really see the need.
If we need a second lock at the Soo, don't we need second locks even more at Eisenhower, Snell, Côte Ste. Catherine, Beauharnois (x2), Iroquois, and I believe 4 different locks on the Welland Canal that aren't twinned?
Sault Saint Marie has the Poe and the MacArthur. If the Poe Lock goes down for an extended period, we still have a lock that can handle a significant percentage of the US fleet, all of the Canadian fleet, and all of the saltwater fleet that trades inland.
And with shuttles, assuming a typical distribution on both sides of the lock of footers and the handful of smaller ships too large to be accommodated, this sizable chunk of the US Great Lakes fleet would hardly be at a standstill.
And if the Davis Lock were maintained for emergencies, most of what the MacArthur Lock can accommodate could go through here when traveling light, easing waits if either of the other active locks went down.
Yet the system has at least 10 complete choke points elsewhere that would seem to shutter a lot more business than the Poe Lock would, if any single one of them had a long closure.
Guess I don't get it. Nice to see Great Lakes shipping get some attention, but I believe this is a luxury more than a true necessity, and that the money would be better spent elsewhere such as addressing the dredging backlog around the Great Lakes.
I don't really see the need.
If we need a second lock at the Soo, don't we need second locks even more at Eisenhower, Snell, Côte Ste. Catherine, Beauharnois (x2), Iroquois, and I believe 4 different locks on the Welland Canal that aren't twinned?
Sault Saint Marie has the Poe and the MacArthur. If the Poe Lock goes down for an extended period, we still have a lock that can handle a significant percentage of the US fleet, all of the Canadian fleet, and all of the saltwater fleet that trades inland.
And with shuttles, assuming a typical distribution on both sides of the lock of footers and the handful of smaller ships too large to be accommodated, this sizable chunk of the US Great Lakes fleet would hardly be at a standstill.
And if the Davis Lock were maintained for emergencies, most of what the MacArthur Lock can accommodate could go through here when traveling light, easing waits if either of the other active locks went down.
Yet the system has at least 10 complete choke points elsewhere that would seem to shutter a lot more business than the Poe Lock would, if any single one of them had a long closure.
Guess I don't get it. Nice to see Great Lakes shipping get some attention, but I believe this is a luxury more than a true necessity, and that the money would be better spent elsewhere such as addressing the dredging backlog around the Great Lakes.