Seaway Operations-1959

Seaway and related operations include the dispatching and transiting of vessels, lock operations and maintenance, maintenance of channels, operation and maintenance of aids to navigation, the marine base, anchorage areas and related facilities, as well as the operation of a highway toll bridge system.

The St. Lawrence Seaway, Montreal to Lake Erie, is operated on a cooperative and coordinated basis by the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority of Canada and the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation of the United States. Each entity operates and maintains its own navigation facilities. The Cornwall-Massena International Bridge is operated through a subsidiary bridge company, with each entity owning equal shares of stock and having equal representation on the board of directors. The navigation season generally starts about the middle of April and runs to the first of December, or from 71⁄2 to 8 months each year. The 1959 season of the St. Lawrence River section of the Seaway, Montreal to Lake Ontario, opened on April 25 and closed December 3. From the time the ice breaks up in the spring until weather conditions prohibit, the Seaway is operated around the clock, 7 days a week with three 8-hour shifts of operators or workmen. The necessary overhauling and repair work is done on the locks and related equipment during the winter nonnavigation season. Most of the operating force is utilized during the winter months for repairs and maintenance. Employees are encouraged to take the greater portion of their annual leave while the Seaway is closed to shipping. A small number of employees are furloughed for a portion of the nonnavigation season.

TRAFFIC CONTROL AND TRANSITING OF VESSELS

Dispatching of vessels and their movement through the Seaway are closely controlled and coordinated by the dispatchers for the two Seaway entities. Dispatching offices are located as follows:

1. Upper Beauharnois lock.

2. Eisenhower lock.

3. Iroquois lock.

4. Guard Gate-Welland Canal.

Sixteen radio calling-in points have been designated along the Seaway. Anchorage areas are provided throughout the length of the Seaway for vessels that desire to anchor at night, due to weather conditions and other reasons, or when instructed by the dispatchers.

A vessel approaching the upper Beauharnois lock, one of two locks located in this area which are joined together by a 4-mile long canal and which have a combined lift of 82 feet. This lock, like all Seaway locks, has a width of 80 feet, a usable length of 768 feet with 30 feet of water over the sills.

The Prinses Irene of the Fjell-Oranje Line, an ocean-Great Lakes liner built specially for Seaway services, is shown on her initial voyage through the Seaway. In addition to her cargo space, this vessel has the most modern accommodations for 115 passengers.

Here is the western end of the 20-mile-long canal that extends from the entrance in the Montreal Harbor to this point at the foot of Lake St. Louis. At right can be seen a portion of the Indian village of Caughnawaga. In this section, the channel has a minimum width of 250 feet and a depth of 27 feet. In background are two of four bridges in the Montreal area that span the Seaway channel and which are modified to provide the necessary 120-foot overhead clearance for shipping.

A large inland type bulk cargo vessel, the Georgian Bay, moving upbound through the St. Lawrence Seaway and approaching the Bertrand H. Snell lock. She is loaded with iron ore. Note the comparison in size with the vessel leaving the lock, a "canaller," which for many years sailed through the old 14-foot canal system. Many of the small "canallers" are being replaced by the larger vessels.

The first American-flag general cargo vessel to transit the Seaway, the Santa Regina of the Grace Line. Her bright lights are showing the way as she enters the Snell lock at Massena, N.Y., at night.