Duluth Entry Question

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hausen
Posts: 803
Joined: July 2, 2010, 1:36 pm

Re: Duluth Entry Question

Unread post by hausen »

I definitely remember seeing a photo of two ships passing in the Duluth Ship Canal although I can't find it at the moment. If memory serves it dates to the 1930s or 1940s. Don't know how common a practice two-way traffic ever was at Duluth.

Commercial ship visits to Duluth-Superior peaked at over 7,000 visits per season in 1902, so that would've represented the maximum pressure on the Duluth and Superior Entries. I believe the Duluth Ship Canal was widened to its current dimensions in 1900 or 1901, so 1902 might've seen a lot of two-way traffic in the Duluth Canal.

Commercial ship visits to the Twin Ports hovered in the 4,000 - 6,000 trips per year range in the 1910s-1920s, and again in the 1940s-early 1950s. As larger vessels came on the scene, those statistics began changing, and after the wartime iron ore shipment peak in 1953 Duluth-Superior's annual ship visit count dropped significantly. I'd imagine that might've been about the same time that two-way traffic through the canal fizzled out for good.
Guest

Duluth Entry Question

Unread post by Guest »

I know with larger ships it would be a problem but were ships ever able to pass each other while transiting the Duluth Entry? I'm thinking along the lines of when ships had beams under 70 feet.
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