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My fellow canines . . . I've been doing a little sightseeing in the Niagara
Region and I want to share a little history of the Welland Canal with you (which
I gleaned from www.wellandcanal.com).
The First Welland Canal 1924-1929
The first Welland Canal between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie was designed with Niagara's landscape in mind. It began at Port Dalhousie and ran along the Twelve Mile Creek to Port Robinson where it connected to the Welland River. The Welland River then joined up to the Niagara River exiting to Lake Erie. Construction of the canal began on November 24, 1824 and was completed by November 29, 1829. By 1833 the canal had undergone several modifications that included five more locks, an expansion of the feeder canal and the construction of a more direct route from Port Robinson to Port Colborne. The canal had now become 43.4 kilometers long and 2.4 meters deep and consisted of 40 wooden locks. The building of the canal was a labor intensive venture. Construction crews made up of European immigrants had very few tools to work with other than picks and shovels. The men on these crews were paid about a half a dollar for a day's work. The operation of the canal also required a great deal of physical labor as horses and oxen were used to tow the ships (schooners) from one lock to another on paths that still exist today as streets by the name of towpath.
The Second Welland Canal 1842
The second Welland Canal also ran from Port
Dalhousie to Port Robinson in a southern direction and on through the towns of
Welland and Port Colborne to Lake Erie. The building of a larger second Welland
Canal was necessary due to the increase use of the waterway by large ships. The
new canal reduced the number of lift locks to 27 and extended the length between
locks from 33.5 meters to 45.7 meters. The locks themselves were made of
limestone and increased in width from 6.7 meters to 8.1 meters. The canal's
depth was also increased to 2.7 meters and later by 1853 to 3.1 meters.
The Third Welland Canal 1887
The third Welland Canal took a more direct path from Port Dalhousie to Allanburg leaving behind the Twelve Mile Creek route. From Allanburg the canal continued to follow the previous path with the exception of bypassing many of the canal downtown community centers. The third canal no longer depended on the feeder canal for its source of water. Instead water was directly supplied from lake Erie via the canal itself. The canal was now 4.3 meters deep and its 26 stone locks had swelled to a dimension of 13.7 meters in width with a distance of 82.3 meters between lock gates.
The Fourth Welland Canal 1913-1932 and 1967-1973
The fourth and current Welland Canal was mainly constructed between the years of 1913 and 1932. Its depth started out at 7.6 meters but later was deepened to 8.2 meters and currently is 9.1 meters deep. There are 8 locks in total, each 24.4 meters wide and 261.8 meters long. The canal now runs perpendicular to the Niagara Escarpment and is the most direct route of all three previous canals. Between the years of 1967 and 1973 a channel was constructed east of the city of Welland to help speed ship traffic through the canal and alleviate highway traffic through the rose city. This channel is known as the Welland By-Pass. Another fascinating feature of this canal is the twin flight locks in Thorold which allow more than one ship to travel in either direction at the same time.
I love to sit and watch as the big ships travel through the Canal. Up close, they are really really big! Rock and I had lunch at Canalside Pub on West Street in Port Colborne. Rock is a genius at seeking out patio restaurants so that I can make myself comfortable just outstide the patio fence, near his table so that I can keep an eye on him. We had good seats to watch with fascination as this big ship made its way, ever so slowly, through the Canal.
For a nice walk with your human, stop at the Ontario Travel Tourist Information Centre, 5355 Stanley Avenue, at Hwy. 420 in Niagara Falls, to stretch your stretch your legs.
Happy Daytripping!
Echo invites fellow canines, felines and other feathered or
furry friends to have their humans submit pet photos. If we print your photo, we
will send you a $20 gift certificate from a local pet store.
Email photo, pet name, breed and your mailing address to Echo at gervais@bmts.com.