The Soo Locks: The 'linchpin' of Great Lakes shipping is entering a new era

Nov. 5—Construction began 12 years ago on one of the Great Lakes region's most important projects, and nine more years of work remain — possibly less if the weather cooperates.

But, when it's finished and open for business in 2030 or thereabouts, the newest and yet-to-be-named passageway at the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., will give the Great Lakes region's maritime industry more flexibility and America more national security, speakers at a roundtable in East Toledo said Thursday.

The event was a status update on the project, now estimated to cost nearly $1.5 billion.

Authorized by Congress in 1986, work on a new lock began in 2009 and has intensified with dredging for it.

The new lock will be 1,250 feet long, 110 feet wide, and 32 feet deep, according to Lt. Col. Scott Katalenich, commander of the Army Corps of Engineers' Detroit District, which has jurisdiction over the Soo Locks.

It is unknown when it will be named, he said.

"The new Soo lock is vital to our economy," Colonel Katalenich said. "We anticipate completion by the fall of 2030, but we are optimistic — with good weather — we might be able to beat that."

The new lock will actually bring the number of locks at the Soo down from four to three; it will occupy the space now belonging to the smaller Davis and Sabin locks, neither of which are used any longer for freighters.

Opened in 1914, the Davis Lock is used only for Soo-area office vessels when necessary. The Sabin Lock, which opened in 1919, has been shut down for all purposes since 1989 and was officially decommissioned in 2010.

The MacArthur Lock, which opened in 1943, isn't large enough to handle the biggest ships used by the Poe Lock, which itself was rebuilt more than 50 years ago.

The new lock will have dimensions nearly identical to those of the Poe, and will provide the flexibility needed for the Corps to make more improvements to the Poe.

Redundant?

Yes.

But don't say that word to Lake Carriers' Association President Jim Weakley, who said he much prefers people think of the new lock in terms of resiliency.

"It is really important to emphasize this is a resiliency system," he said. "A critical piece of infrastructure is always going to be at risk. It's about efficiency. It's really a resiliency issue."

Why?

Consider these stats:

—Ninety percent of America's taconite ore — an important ingredient for making steel — comes through the Soo Locks after being mined in northern Minnesota near Duluth or in Michigan's Upper Peninsula near Marquette.

—Eighty-nine percent of what's hauled through the Soo Locks goes through the Poe Lock, which shows how shipping has become so disproportionately reliant on that one passage.

—On average, 71 million tons of cargo now go through the locks each year, much of that being materials for making steel but also grain, coal, and other cargoes.

—A 30-day outage of the Poe Lock has a greater impact on the nation than a 30-day outage of any other lock the Corps of Engineers operates. The locks are usually closed Jan. 15 to March 25 for winter maintenance.

"Without that critical infrastructure, we would not be able to move the steel we need," Mark Barker, Interlake Steamship Co.'s president, said, while also adding that the locks play an important role in moving grain and other agricultural products from America's heartland to other parts of the United States and the world.

Perhaps it is no surprise that, in Mr. Barker's words, the Soo Locks were "one of the most highly defended structures during World War II."

Like many chemical and nuclear plants, water-treatment plants, and other structures, security around the Soo Locks has been greatly fortified since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Providing the Soo Locks with more flexibility enhances America's national security, speakers agreed.

"We can't lose production of American steel in wartime," said Paul Lamarre, Port of Monroe director.

Said Colonel Katalenich: "We do take physical security of our sites very seriously."

An update on cost estimates is expected in February, when the contract for Phase 3 is awarded, he said.

But the project is already touted as the Great Lakes region's biggest in a generation.

It won't have much impact on the supply chain issues that have caused such a backlog of products delivered to the West Coast in containerized shipments, such as toys and electronics.

Those are coming largely from China and other Asian markets. The Great Lakes is heavily vested in domestic and European markets, Mr. Lamarre said.

But the new lock is the kind of investment that eases the threat of future supply-chain threats to the steel and agricultural markets, he said.

It's estimated the Soo Locks now support 10,000 jobs in Ohio, 13,000 jobs in Michigan, and 32,000 jobs in Ontario, said Thomas Winston, the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority's president and chief operating officer.

Speakers said those numbers are expected to increase once the new lock opens.

The Soo Locks are described by a trade group called the Great Lakes Seaway Partnership as "the linchpin of the Great Lakes navigation system."

The recently opened Cleveland-Cliffs iron-processing plant in East Toledo is an example of a local business that benefits from the Soo Locks, Mr. Winston said.

"Just as Toledo is dependent on the Soo, so are many other communities," Mr. Winston said. "There's been a lot of discussion about the supply chain on the West Coast. Well, the steel industry has its own supply chain here on the Great Lakes and it is critically important it not be disrupted."

Mr. Lamarre agreed.

"The Soo Locks have brought us here. Not here as a place, but here as a nation," he said. "They can be called an engineering wonder of the world, one of history's most lasting and important foundations."

Three posters depicting the future era of enhanced Great Lakes shipping through the Soo Locks were unveiled during the roundtable.

They are available for purchase at the National Museum of the Great Lakes in large format for $25 apiece, or $70 for all three. Smaller posters can be purchased for $20 apiece or $55 for all three. They may also be bought online from the museum, nmgl.org, or from the Soo Locks Visitors Center when it reopens March 25.

The Great Lakes Seaway Partnership, greatlakesseaway.org/soo-locks, which was formed in 2014 by Great Lakes ports, Great Lakes carriers, and others in the maritime industry, said proceeds will go to the National Museum of the Great Lakes and the Soo Locks Visitors Center.

First Published November 4, 2021, 6:26pm