MONSTER WATERWAY

Hokitika Guardian, 27 July 1932, Page 8

MONSTER WATERWAY

v*V ' PROPOSED SHIP CANAL. DETAILS OF THE PROJECT. f The St. Lawrence waterway is, } ' divided into six major sections. The first section is the deepening of the • connecting channels of the upper lakes, > the second section is the new Welland 1 Ship Canal built by Canada and wholly within Canadian territory, and the third section is the “Thousand Island” division of the work, of 67 ! miles from Lake Ontario to three miles lie-low Ogdensburg, N’ew Yoik. It is mainly deep water requiring only straightening of the channel and re- : moval of a few rock reefs. The fourth section is a portion 48 miles long with a senes of rapids from which it is estimated that 2,250,000 horse-power of electricity can he developed, and in •the fifth Section 70 miles of Canadian%aters are to be traversed, from the international ibounda'ry to Montreal'. This work will be developed either by lateral canals, or by locks i and dams. In ,the final section the existing channel-fiom Montreal to the Gulf of St; Lawrence, built and maintained by the Canadian Government, will be brought into the system. This great plan will open up a landlocked ' empiric l to commerce with the Seven Seas; and the Canadian and tUnited; States wheat harvests wjl find their way to deep-sea waters from ns far inlarjd as Minnesota 2300 miles from the cpast. The St. Lawrence project has something of this dramatic, quality of tin Suez and Panama Canals. It w I •bring the Great Lakes 2300 miles from their western end- to the Atlantic. Completion of ; . the St. Lawrenc , canal Senator Henry J. Allen (Re * public an, Kansas)- recently told t! - Great ' fiakes-St. Lawrence Tidewater Association., of which he is president looked more, hopeful than at any -past titras in - tan';years. Th© present move to connect the Lakes with the Atlantic began in 1919, and has seer .1 much work already done. ;>The Niagara peninsula has h en cm

by a 115,600,000 dollar New Welland ship gam ill, built by Canada. Likewise Canada lias .entered on the construction of 65 miles of ship channel from the outlet of, Lake Ontario to the cities of Prescott, and Ogdensburg. The project- calls for .the deepening and widening, of the. st. Lfiwne ; nce above and below.,the, : . ; pjtpsfn a,fiopal boundary for v the yfree passage of deep draught vessels between the ocean and the Lakes. • -

- Frmn the Outl'ctjqf .Lake Ontario for 113 miles down stream,', ahdy'to-within ( 70 miles of Montreal,, the' St. Lawrence; . hoiuidary. Two-thirds of t-bg cost of tiie projwsed improveimeqt. will Occur in tbi® cine section.» A .ysingl-e-stage, 25-foot channel from Lake- Ontario 'to Mon- ■ tinea], will cost about, 170,000,000 doJ- : tens'. To this cost’ must be added that of the Welland Carnal, and anothe 59,000,000 dollarsjfor ep for' tlie channel from the. head r p<f, the Lakes to Lake Eii'e. . The w-holp scheme will cost 801,000,600 dollars. ; ; In 1921 the international joint commission of the two GovernimentS'reoomihended the econqpiio desirability of thvcanal. In 1926 the United 'States St. Lawrence Commission mode a favourable report on engineering factors to the American i Government, and the Canadian advisory committee performed a similar service to Canada. Diplomatic e-omepondenoe- was initiated' with the idea of writing a treaty to complete the work. In this note Canada proposed a tentative plan for construction. ' >' ■ ! Th? last note on the subject for ®ome time came from, Canada on April 3th., 1928. It„ was explained that Dominion discussions of the ■ problem would be required, but that early a tiion might be anticip? bed. • Then_ in October of last year, the United States received .the long-waited notio fmm Canada that she was willing to proceed with the negotiation of th new treaty. Domestic matters had delayed action until the end of 1931.