Soo Lock News

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) said the New Lock at the Soo project is on schedule as construction resumes on phase one and is initiated on phase two this week.Trade West Construction, Inc., and joint venture Kokosing-Alberici began moving equipment to the site the week of April 12 and 19.Trade West continues phase one, deepening the upstream channel to the Sabin and Davis Locks, which will be replaced by the new lock. USACE officials expect phase one completion in November 2021.Kokosing-Alberici is starting phase two this year, rehabilitating the upstream approach walls.

The second phase construction contract for the New Lock at the Soo has been awarded to Kokosing Alberici LLC of Westerville, Ohio, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials announced Thursday.The much-anticipated mega-project will require three phases of construction. Kokosing Alberici's $111 million contract to complete the second phase will stabilize the existing approach walls, allowing modern vessels to tie up and wait their turn to pass through the new lock. Construction will…

Bill now heads to White House for President Trump’s signature.Today, the Senate voted 99-1 in favor of America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018/Water Resources Development Act, otherwise known as WRDA 2018. The Bill passed in the U.S. House by unanimous voice vote (435-0) in August.“The passage of WRDA 2018 is a win for the Nation’s towboat operators, freight shippers, ports and labor and conservation groups that rely on an efficient inland waterways system,” said Mike Toohey, President and CEO of the Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI).

Shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes totaled 6.1 million tons in June, an increase of roughly one load in a 1,000-foot-long U.S.-flag freighter, the Lake Carriers’ Association reported. Shipments were 8.7 percent ahead of the month’s five-year average.Iron ore shipments from U.S. ports through the Soo Locks totaled 5.6 million tons in June, an increase of 4.1 percent. Of that total, 5.2 million tons, or 94 percent, transited the Poe Lock. On June 29, the U.S. Army Corps of…

A new study commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department lists modernization of the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., as one of the 40 American transportation and water “megaprojects” that could bring as much as $1.3 trillion in national economic benefits. The system resiliency that a second Poe-sized lock will provide has an estimated net economic benefit of as much as $1.7 billion, according to the study. The Soo Locks connect Lake Superior to the lower four Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway. Lake Superior is home to five iron ore loading ports, as well as the largest coal and grain shipping ports. Without the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, those cargos could not reach steelmakers, utilities and overseas markets. As the study notes, more than 60 percent of the current U.S.

Moran Iron Works, Inc. (MIW) was contracted to fabricate, galvanize and deliver two bulkheads for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Detroit District for installation in the Soo Lock Complex located in Sault Sainte Marine, Michigan. The bulkheads are used when dewatering the locks to enable a safe work environment for maintenance and repairs to be performed during the annual lock closure each winter. MIW said fabrication was completed on time, and delivery took place in May 2015 to accommodate an expedited turnaround requirement.

The Great Lakes Maritime Task Force (GLMTF) has expressed its disappointment that the second Poe-sized lock at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan did not receive any Federal stimulus dollars. GLMTF stated that Congress has strongly supported the project, authorizing the lock at full Federal expense in 2007, and approving tens of millions of dollars in Federal construction funding, including $17 million recently in the FY09 Appropriations Bill. “It is incomprehensible that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not include the new Soo lock in projects that will be funded from its share of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA),” said Donald Cree, President of Great Lakes Maritime Task Force, the largest coalition promoting waterborne commerce on the Great Lakes.