Welland Canal

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The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Ontario, Canada, and part of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway. The canal traverses the Niagara Peninsula between Port Weller on Lake Ontario and Port Colborne on Lake Erie, and was built because the Niagara River—the only natural waterway connecting the lakes—was unnavigable due to Niagara Falls. The Welland Canal enables ships to ascend and descend the Niagara Escarpment, and has followed four different routes since it opened. The Welland Canal passes about 3,000 ships which transport about 40 million tonnes (88 billion pounds) of cargo a year. It was a major factor in the growth of the city of Toronto, Ontario. The original canal and its successors allowed goods from Great Lakes ports such as Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Chicago, as well as other heavily industrialized areas of the United States and Ontario, to be shipped to the Port of Montreal or to Quebec City, where they were usually reloaded onto ocean-going vessels for international shipping. Since its initial opening on November 30, 1829, the canal has been reconstructed numerous times to accommodate larger vessels and provide for quicker navigation. The First Welland Canal was excavated between 1824 and 1829, and operated until 1845. The Second Welland Canal, built between 1841 and 1845, had locks made of stone rather than wood, and had greater width and depth than the First Canal; it remained in operation for nearly a century before closing permanently in 1935. The Third Welland Canal, built between 1872 and 1877, was deeper and wider still and cut a straighter path through the escarpment, and featured 26 masonry locks lined with wood to protect ships rubbing against the sides or bottom; it operated alongside the second canal, and was also closed in 1935. The Fourth Welland Canal,...