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Great Lakes Waterway

 

 
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The Great Lakes Waterway is a system of channels and canal
Canal

Canals are artificial channels for water. There are two types of canals: Aqueduct canals, which are used for the conveyance and delivery of water, and waterways, which are navigable transportation canals used for passage of goods and people, often connected to existing lakes, rivers, or oceans....
s that makes all of the Great Lakes
Great Lakes

The St. Lawrence River Great Lakes are a chain of fresh water lakes located in eastern North America, on the Canada ? United States border. Consisting of Lakes Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth....
 accessible to oceangoing vessels. Its principal civil engineering
Civil engineering

Civil engineering is a Professional Engineer discipline that deals with the design, construction and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works such as bridges, roads, canals, dams and buildings....
 components are the Welland Canal
Welland Canal

The Welland Canal is a ship canal that runs 42 km from Port Colborne, Ontario on Lake Erie to Port Weller, Ontario on Lake Ontario. As part of the St....
, bypassing Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls

The Niagara Falls are massive waterfalls on the Niagara River, straddling the Canada?United States border between the Provinces and territories of Canada of Ontario and the U.S....
 between Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. The lake is bounded on the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south by Ontario's Niagara Peninsula and by the U.S....
 and Lake Erie
Lake Erie

Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time....
, and the Soo Locks
Soo Locks

The Soo Locks allow ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. The locks pass an average of 10,000 ships per year. This is achieved in spite of the locks' being closed during the winter, from January through March, when ice shuts down shipping on the Great Lakes....
, bypassing the rapids of the St. Marys River
St. Marys River (Michigan-Ontario)

The St. Marys River , sometimes written as the St. Mary's River, drains Lake Superior, starting at the end of Whitefish Bay and flowing 120 km southeast into Lake Huron....
 between Lake Superior
Lake Superior

Lake Superior is the largest of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by Ontario, Canada and Minnesota, United States, and to the south by the U.S....
 and Lake Huron
Lake Huron

Lake Huron, bounded on the west by the U.S. state of Michigan, and on the east by the Provinces and territories of Canada of Ontario, Canada, is one of the five Great Lakes of North America....
, at Sault Sainte Marie.






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Soo Locks Sault Ste Marie
The Great Lakes Waterway is a system of channels and canal
Canal

Canals are artificial channels for water. There are two types of canals: Aqueduct canals, which are used for the conveyance and delivery of water, and waterways, which are navigable transportation canals used for passage of goods and people, often connected to existing lakes, rivers, or oceans....
s that makes all of the Great Lakes
Great Lakes

The St. Lawrence River Great Lakes are a chain of fresh water lakes located in eastern North America, on the Canada ? United States border. Consisting of Lakes Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth....
 accessible to oceangoing vessels. Its principal civil engineering
Civil engineering

Civil engineering is a Professional Engineer discipline that deals with the design, construction and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works such as bridges, roads, canals, dams and buildings....
 components are the Welland Canal
Welland Canal

The Welland Canal is a ship canal that runs 42 km from Port Colborne, Ontario on Lake Erie to Port Weller, Ontario on Lake Ontario. As part of the St....
, bypassing Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls

The Niagara Falls are massive waterfalls on the Niagara River, straddling the Canada?United States border between the Provinces and territories of Canada of Ontario and the U.S....
 between Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. The lake is bounded on the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south by Ontario's Niagara Peninsula and by the U.S....
 and Lake Erie
Lake Erie

Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time....
, and the Soo Locks
Soo Locks

The Soo Locks allow ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. The locks pass an average of 10,000 ships per year. This is achieved in spite of the locks' being closed during the winter, from January through March, when ice shuts down shipping on the Great Lakes....
, bypassing the rapids of the St. Marys River
St. Marys River (Michigan-Ontario)

The St. Marys River , sometimes written as the St. Mary's River, drains Lake Superior, starting at the end of Whitefish Bay and flowing 120 km southeast into Lake Huron....
 between Lake Superior
Lake Superior

Lake Superior is the largest of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by Ontario, Canada and Minnesota, United States, and to the south by the U.S....
 and Lake Huron
Lake Huron

Lake Huron, bounded on the west by the U.S. state of Michigan, and on the east by the Provinces and territories of Canada of Ontario, Canada, is one of the five Great Lakes of North America....
, at Sault Sainte Marie. Maintained channels serve the St. Clair River
St. Clair River

The St. Clair River is a river in central North America which drains Lake Huron into Lake St Clair , forming part of the United States-Canada border between the Canada province of Ontario and the United States state of Michigan....
 and Detroit River
Detroit River

The Detroit River is a river in the Great Lakes system, about 32 miles long and 0.5 to 2.5 miles wide. The name comes from French language Rivi?re du D?troit, i.e....
 between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. A United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the Military of the United States and one of seven Uniformed services of the United States. In addition to being a military branch at all times, it is unique among the armed forces in that it is also a Admiralty law agency and a Federal government of the United States regulatory agency....
 icebreaker
Icebreaker

An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters. Although the term usually refers to icebreaking ships, it may also refer to smaller vessels ....
 helps keep the passage open for much of the winter, although shipping usually ceases for 2 or 3 months each year.

The Great Lakes Waterway is supplemented by the Saint Lawrence Seaway
Saint Lawrence Seaway

The St. Lawrence Seaway is the common name for a system of canals that permits ocean-going vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the North American Great Lakes, as far as Lake Superior....
, which makes the Saint Lawrence River
Saint Lawrence River

Saint Lawrence River is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean....
 navigable from Montreal
Montreal

Montreal, or Montr?al, is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada of Quebec and the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country List of the 100 largest municipalities in Canada by population....
 to Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario

Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, where the lake runs into the St. Lawrence River and the Thousand Islands begin....
. The two waterways are often jointly referred to as the St. Lawrence Seaway. The Great Lakes Seaway has larger locks and deeper drafts than the St. Lawrence Seaway with the result that a number of lake freighter
Lake freighter

Lake freighters, or Lakers, are cargo vessels that ply the Great Lakes. The most well-known is the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, the latest major vessel to be wrecked on the Lakes....
s are confined to the lakes, being small enough to operate on the Waterway but too large to pass down the Seaway.

The Great Lakes Waterway is co-administered by Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 and the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
.