St. Lawrence River & Canals

The canals which constitute the Saint Lawrence system serve to overcome the rapids which lie between Montreal and the eastern end of Lake Erie. They have a combined length of 70 1/2 miles and a total lockage of 533 feet. Named in order from the east, the canals of the St. Lawrence system are: the Lachine, the Beauharnois, the Soulanges (which to a very large extent replaces the Beauharnois), the Cornwall and the Williamsburg. The Farrans Point, the Rapide Plat and the Galops canals comprise the Williamsburg canal. The Welland canal, connecting Lakes Ontario and Erie, is considered a part of the Saint Lawrence system as is also the smaller Murray canal. ^Whitford

The first canals in Canada were built to make the upper St. Lawrence River, between Lake St. Francis and Lake St. Louis, navigable.   This included the Coteau du Lac Canal and the Split Rock Canal in 1783, the Trou du Moulin and La Faucille canals in 1785 and the Cascades Canal in 1805.   These were superseded by the Beauharnois Canal in 1845.   The original Beauharnois canal linked Lake St. Louis with Lake St. Francis on the south side of the St. Lawrence River.   It was superceded by the Soulanges Canal in 1899.   The present day Beauharnois was built in 1930-1932 and was enlarged in the 1950s as part of the St. Lawrence Seaway system.   The Soulanges Canal provided a canal link from Lake St. Louis to Lake St. Francis on the north side of the St. Lawrence River.   It was superseded by the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959. ^CCS

The Lachine canal was built for the purpose of enabling vessels to pass the rapids of St. Louis, better known as the Lachine rapids, situated just above Montreal, the head of ocean navigation on the St. Lawrence river. In 1815 an appropriation was made for its construction but no work was done at that time; later, in 1819, a private company was incorporated for the purpose of constructing the canal. This company, in turn, failing to act, a bill was passed in 1821 which repealed the act of incorporation and authorized the construction of the canal by the Government, which at once commenced construction. The British Government contributed £10,000 toward the accomplishment of this work. The canal was opened for navigation in 1825 and completed in 1826. The cost of construction amounted to $438,404. The canal was built with a depth of four and one-half feet. The width at water-surface was forty-eight feet and at the bottom twenty-eight. The locks were one hundred feet long and twenty feet wide. These dimensions were found inadequate and enlargement of the canal was begun in 1840. During enlargement, navigation was not interrupted, the new locks being constructed beside the old ones, and the prism excavated during the closed season. This enlargement was sufficiently complete in 1848 to admit the passage of boats drawing eight and one-half feet of water, but the entire enlargement was not completed until 1862. The dimensions of the canal were then one hundred and twenty feet at water-surface and eighty feet at the bottom, with a navigable depth of nine feet. The locks were 200 feet long, 45 feet wide and nine feet deep on the sills, except the two just above Montreal, which were 16 feet deep on the sills. The cost up to this time was $2,587,532. In the year 1871 it was decided to further enlarge this canal, together with the others in the Saint Lawrence system, in order to afford a navigable depth of twelve feet throughout. Before the work was undertaken, however, it was decided to make the depth nineteen feet, but this intention was never carried out. The prism was enlarged, first to a depth of twelve feet throughout, and then to fourteen feet. Two of the locks have a depth of eighteen feet on the miter-sills, and three, a depth of fourteen feet. The canal prism was not available for boats drawing fourteen feet of water until 1899. The old locks with nine feet of water on the sills are still available at the side of the new locks. The total cost of construction on this canal, including all enlargements, etc., up to 1905, was $11,475,112. ^Whitford

This canal, built to overcome the "Cascades," "Cedar" and "Coteau" rapids is, in its entirety, 12 miles long and affords safe navigation between Lakes St. Francis and St. Louis. After a number of projects had been considered as to the best route for this canal, in the year 1842, contracts were entered into for its construction on the south side of the river. The canal was completed in 1845, but was not found satisfactory. The channel was crooked and during low water was too shallow. For many years the canal was repeatedly improved by means of dams, regulating weirs and dykes, but was never entirely satisfactory. Now that the Soulanges canal is opened the Beauharnois canal will probably be abandoned. The total amount expended for construction on this canal to 1905 was $1,636,690. ^Whitford

The largest canal of the Saint Lawrence system, and the most modern in its design and execution, is the Soulanges canal. This canal is on the north side of the river and serves the same purpose as the Beauharnois canal, which to a large extent it replaces. The canal is 14 miles long and the five locks in that distance have a total lift of 82 feet. The locks are of concrete, faced with cut stone, and are filled and emptied through culverts communicating with the lock-chamber through twenty cast iron pipes arranged ten on each side of the chamber. These pipes are each 2 1/2 feet in diameter. The gates and the sluices are operated by electricity and a lockage can be accomplished in fifteen minutes or less. The canal opened to traffic in 1899 after the expenditure of $5,098,260 in construction. The total cost of construction to 1905 was $6,886,174. ^Whitford

The Cornwall canal, located west of the Beauharnois, was built with a depth of nine feet and was the first canal constructed of this depth, which afterwards was adopted as the standard. It is designed to furnish a passage around the Long Sault rapids, being on the north shore of the river. It is about 11 miles long and has a lockage of 48 feet. In 1818 a joint commission was appointed by the Government of Upper and Lower Canada, which reported in favor of the improvement of the Saint Lawrence navigation between the head of Lakes St. Louis and St. Francis and also at the rapids above Lake St. Francis. It recommended the building of canals four feet deep, but nothing was accomplished. In 1832 the Assembly of Upper Canada passed measures appropriating $280,000 for the improvement of the St. Lawrence, so as to permit navigation by vessels drawing nine feet of water. This measure stipulated that the Cornwall canal should be completed before the other proposed works leading to Ontario were undertaken. In 1833 a commission was appointed to carry on the construction of the canal; in 1834 the contracts were let. The rebellion and other causes retarded the work, the canal being opened in 1842 and completed in 1843. The canal was nine feet deep, 150 feet wide at water-surface and 100 feet wide on the bottom, except in those places where the down-going craft ran the rapids and only the up-bound boats used the canal; there the canal was only 50 feet wide on the bottom. In order to make this canal navigable for vessels of the same class as those passing through the Welland canal, its enlargement was begun in 1876. This improvement was a part of a general plan to extend 14-foot navigation from the Great Lakes to the sea. The new locks, begun at this time, are 170 feet long, 45 feet wide and have a depth of 14 feet on the miter-sills at low water. The work of improving the channel between the locks has been continuous since 1876. The amount expended on this canal before the confederation of the provinces was $1,933,153, and the total cost to 1905 was $7,181,188. ^Whitford

THE WILLIAMSBURG CANALS. - 145, 146, 147. The Farrans Point, the Rapide Plat and the Galops canals are all on the north side of the river and complete the list of canals leading to Lake Ontario. These canals were built between the years 1843 and 1856. The object of these, as of the other St. Lawrence canals, was to provide a route around rapids in the river. The Farrans Point canal is situated about five miles west of the town of Dickinson's Landing - the head of the Cornwall canal. It was about three-quarters of a mile long with only 3 1/2 feet of lockage, and was opened to traffic in 1847. The enlargement of the canal, to accommodate vessels drawing 14 feet of water, was contracted for in 1897 and was wholly completed in 1901. By this enlargement the length of the canal was increased to 1 mile and the lockage to four feet. A "flotilla lock," 800 feet long and 45 feet wide, with 14 feet of water on the miter-sill, was built at the side of the old nine-foot lock, which was retained and repaired. The Rapide Plat or Morrisburg canal, situated about 9 1/2 miles west of Farrans Point canal, is designed to overcome the rapids of Rapide Plat by a lock of 11 1/2 feet lift. It extends from the village of Morrisburg to Flaggs Bay, a distance of 3 2/3 miles. The work of enlarging this canal from the original nine-foot depth to the present depth of 14 feet was begun in 1884. The work on all portions was completed in 1905. The new lock, 270 feet long, 45 feet wide, with 14 feet of water on miter-sills, is built at the side of the old one, which is still preserved and was repaired for the use of vessels drawing less that nine feet of water. Between the head of the Rapide Plat canal and the foot of the Galops canal there are 4 1/2 miles of river navigation. What is now known as the Galops canal was originally build in two sections and was opened to navigation in 1847 for nine-foot navigation. The easterly section, called the Point Iroquois canal, commenced at the village of Iroquois and extended to Presqu'ile, a distance of three miles. The lockage of this portion was 5 1/2 feet. The westerly section, the original Galops canal, commenced at the village of Cardinal and extended up-stream two miles to the head of the Galops rapid. About ten years after these canals were built they were connected by an embankment in the river called the "Junction canal." All of these are now included under the one name of Galops canal, having a total length of 7 1/3 miles and a lockage of 15 1/2 feet. In 1888 the upper entrance was improved and in 1897 the enlargement of the remainder of the canal was commenced. This enlargement is intended to furnish 14-foot navigation and is practically completed, with only one lift-lock it Iroquois. The total cost of the original construction of the Williamsburg canals was $1,320,655, and the total cost of construction to 1905 was $10,185,853. ^Whitford

The Murray canal extends through the Isthmus of Murray connecting the Bay of Quinti and Lake Ontario, thus enabling vessels to avoid open lake navigation. It is 5 1-6 miles long, has no locks and its minimum depth is eleven feet. The total cost of this canal to 1905 was $1,248,820. ^Whitford