Today started out With a crossing of the Mackinac bridge. That was a treat. They were workingon the bridge so traffic was slow and one lane. I got a very good look at both shores and Lake Michigan and Lake Huron on a clear day, The drive up to Sault Ste marie was routine from there. Traffic was light and the road was good four lane. TThe interesting thing was that the first 25 or so miles were hilly and forested. Not many signs of life, the the land flattened out and was very flat the rest of the way. Some farms, but lots of woods.
I checked into the rv park and was asking the girl behind the counter about boat tours of the locks. She said that I should go today since it was nice and tomorrow was supposed to turn off bad again. I took her advice and went on the tour. The drop in the locks was about the same as the one going into the dismal swamp from Norfolk. oF COURSE the length and width are bigger. They didnt even come close to the lock thru sante cooper dam above charleston where we bought the houseboat. That wa 60 ft or so and was that scary i have pics at home to prove it.
There are four indipendent locks in the system THw two that i have pics of here are the loarger ones. the other two are smaller and not used unless traffic is heavy. All four of these are american locks and are run by the corps of engineers. There is one lock on the canadian side that is smaller and only operates from June 15 ultil winter. It was down for gate repairs now.
The best part ofthe day i stumbled onto accidently. After I finished with the boat tour , I drove down town to look around and went along a road that paralleled the locks. When I got to the far end i saw these two big ships starting into the locks. There is an observation deck in the middle of the locks, and that is where i took the ship pics from. Now to the pics. They are in reverse order with the ship passage first and the tour pics last,
The first pic is of the big ship leaving the lock after jit had been lowered. The second pic is of the back of the ship and the turblance that it generated. The third pic is of both of the ships in the locks after they had been lowered down. NOted height in later pics The fourth pic is the bow of the ship in the near lock ready to drop. Note how tight it is. Rhe fifth pic is of the ship in the far lock, and the near ship comming in. The sixth pic is the ship in the farlock-750 ft.long and just wide enough to fit in the lock. Yhe seventh shot is of the ship in the near lock just starting into its lock. the eight pis is Another shot of the near ship just entering the lock. This ship is also 750 ft long and had about a foot of clearance on each side. It was loaded with iron ore. the ninth pic is Another view of the ship in the far lock, Note how high up it is, the tenth pic is another view of the two ships. The eleventh pic is a view of the edison power plant from the tour boat. This plant was built in 1902 by the origional edison electric company, It is a quartermile long and is still operates today. The canal that feeds the water from lake superior to the plant makes an island out of the downtown of sault ste marie. When this plant was built it was considered one of the wonders of the world. The twelveth pic is a view of the canadian city. it is a city of about 70,000 people.
Yhe thirteenth pic is more of the canadian city.
The fourteenth pic is a pic of a three masted wooden ship that locked down with the tour boat The fifteenth pic is of the alcan Steel plant on the canadian side. it is owned by a group of Indians (from India). It produces about 5000 tons of steel a day and is the largest employer in the area. The sixteenth pic is A VIEW OF THE BRIDGE OVER THE LOCKS TO cANADA. The sevententh pic is a close up of the bridge and the canadian railway brides that go over the lock, Yhe eighteenth is a view from the tour boat inside the lock before raising up. The ninteenth is the lock door closing behind us. Twenty is a pic of the locks as we entered them. twenty one is another pic of locks as we entered, twebty two is view of the locks from tour boat
Twenty three is another view of the canadian side. The last pic is the tour boat.
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