The Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie will open early for the second straight year, officials announced on Thursday.
According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Poe Lock, the largest lock in the system, will open at 8 a.m. on March 21 to mark the start of the 2025 Great Lakes shipping season.
Officials say the shipping industry requested an early opening based on the understanding that winter maintenance will be completed.
Watch below: Here are the top 5 ships that went through the Soo Locks the most in 2024
“Opening the Soo Locks on March 21 will provide relief to the increased pressure that the Great Lakes Navigation System will face with the influx of foreign vessels including the Canadian domestic fleet on March 22 when the Seaway opens,” Lake Carriers’ Association President James Weakley said in a statement.
“Our winter maintenance period is a critical time for us to execute strategic asset renewal investments in our aging locks,” Soo Locks Operations Manager LeighAnn Ryckeghem said. “This year, a number of factors worked in our favor that allowed us to safely deliver this critical maintenance and also open to navigation traffic a few days early.”
The locks officially closed on Jan. 16 for critical repairs and maintenance, which included fabricating and replacing anchorages on gate 3, commissioning the temporary dewatering system, filling in nonoperational ship arrestor recesses on the downstream end, flushing and cleaning the hydraulic systems for the rehabilitated ship arrestor systems, navigation button rehabilitation, removing underground storage tanks and repairing the winter work bridge recesses.
“We worked hard to accelerate work up-front during our annual closure to optimize the short time available for critical maintenance and repairs,” Maintenance Branch Chief Nicholas Pettit said. “Due to the hard work of our crews during an extreme winter season, we’ve been able to accomplish all required work ahead of schedule.”
For those in Sault Ste. Marie, the viewing platform and park will open at 7:30 a.m. to allow visitors to welcome the first ship.
