Unlocking the Lakes

A dynamite blast that geysered water of the Detroit River 150 ft. in the air signaled a new era in Great Lakes shipping last week. It set off a $23 million project that will deepen Amherstburg Channel in the Detroit River near Lake Erie to a minimum depth of 27 ft. (from 21 ft.), enable the waterway to take deep-draft ocean-going ships of up to 10,000 tons and shallow-draft lake ships of 25,000 tons-- almost double the present capacity. This is the first part of a five-year dredging program to open the upper Midwest to the globe-girdling ships that will use the new St. Lawrence Seaway. Said Army Secretary Wilber M. Brucker: "The final assault is being begun upon the barriers to the free flow of waterborne trade among the ports of the Great Lakes and those of the seven seas."

Private contractors, working under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, will carve out a standard 27-ft. waterway in the 130 miles of channels linking the western Great Lakes. This week the Army will open bids for the second stage of the project, the deepening of a channel in the St. Mary's River near the Soo Locks. Later, a work force of 800 to 1,000 will dredge the Straits of Mackinac channel between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, deepen the channels in the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River. Total cost to the Federal Government: $136 million, more than has been spent on the Great Lakes connecting channels in the past 130 years.

Each inch of draft carved from connecting channels will permit large lake ships to carry about 100 more tons of cargo. This will bring bigger, faster, more modern ships onto the world's busiest inland waterway, clip the Duluth-Cleveland voyage from seven days to five, cut lake shipping costs by 15-c- to 18-c- a ton, save shippers $10 million a year. It will also unlock the lakes for large-scale foreign trade. Some shippingmen predict that by 1965 Great Lakes-overseas traffic will go up tenfold, and the U.S. St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. optimistically forecasts that the seaway will pass 52 minion tons of cargo a year.

Help for Harbors. Readying for the surge in trade that will be generated by the deeper seaway and connecting channels, U.S. and Canadian lakeside ports are expected to spend about $50 million for improvement by the end of 1960. Chicago alone is putting $24 million into its Lake Calumet Harbor Development, has already added a mile-long dock, two grain elevators (total capacity: 13 million bu.), three modern cargo sheds (capacity: 300,000 sq. ft.), ten miles of railroad and five miles of access roads. Milwaukee is investing $11.2 million. Among its projects: a $5,500,000 steel pier that will jut 1,020 ft. into Lake Michigan and a $1,300,000 pier in the outer harbor. Duluth, working with $10 million allotted by the Minnesota legislature, will build eleven slips for deep-draft ships, expects to spend $30 million in all by 1965. Cleveland is budgeting $5,000,000 for new piers and the roadways and utilities that will serve them. But shippers complain that some lakeside ports are still in the doldrums. Detroit and Buffalo have done little to prepare for the seaway surge.

Help for Shipbuilders. The seaway and channel-deepening are also expected to spur shipbuilding, help revitalize the five Great Lakes shipyards that are now operating below capacity. For the lakes-overseas trade, Manhattan's Isbrandtsen Co. Inc. will spend up to $40 million to build or buy eight ships of 8,000 to 8,500 tons. Four to six ships worth $30 million to $40 million will be added by Manhattan's Grace Line. Moore-McCormack Lines and Lykes Bros. Steamship Co. also intend to start operating in the St. Lawrence when the deeper waterway is completed.

Foreign lines, now sailing the lakes to Europe with shallow-draft ships, will also move full speed ahead. As soon as the seaway opens, the Swedish Chicago Line will add five big ships in the lakes. Norwegian-America Line will start operating in the lakes, with Norway's Fjell Line will offer a lakes-Scandinavia service, using 7,000-to 8,000-tonners. Holland's Fjell-Oranje Lines is going a step farther. It has ordered two big combination freighter-passenger ships, will carry 100 tourists between the Midwest and Europe with each sailing.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.