The Canal This system was designed to provide safe water communication between Kingston and the lower Saint Lawrence by way of Ottawa (then called Bytown) and the Ottawa River. In its concep tion the requirements of commerce were sec ondary to military considerations. Water communications with Upper Canada had been seriously interrupted during the War of 1812, and the system was intended to form, so to speak, a back-door between the two great rivers. At Sainte Anne, where the Ottawa joins the Saint Lawrence, private interests had con structed a lock in 1816. Twenty-seven miles farther up the Ottawa, the Carillon Canal was built to avoid the Carillon Rapids; the Chute a Blondeau Canal four miles above that, and the Grenville Canal a mile and a half above the Chute a Blondeau Canal. The Ottawa River canals handled 272,370 tons of freight in 1915, a decrease of 62,762 tons in comparison with the preceding year.
The Rideau Canal, formed by canalizing the Rideau and Cataraqui rivers, and by making use of the Rideau lakes, was constructed as a military work, and was opened for navigation in 1832. The locks were 134 feet long by 33 feet wide, with five feet depth of water on the sills. In 1915 120,781 tons of freight passed through, a decrease of 30.958 tons from 1914.
Trent Navigation A plan has been projected to construct a navigable water way over 200 miles in length, connecting the rivers and lakes between the Bay of Quinte and the southeastern shore of Georgian Bay. In 1907 it was decided to proceed with the im provement of the Trent River from the Bay of Quinte to Lake Simcoe, with an eight and one-half-foot navigation to Rice Lake, and a six-foot navigation from that point to Lake Simcoe. Contracts were let to a value of over $5,000,000. Two great hydraulic lift locks have been constructed in connection with these works, the one at Peterborough being the largest in the world, and is able to lift vessels of a capacity of 800 tons vertically a distance of 65 feet. In 1915 49,904 tons passed through the Trent canals, a decrease of 17,811 tons on the figures of 1914.
Welland This is the most extensive of the public works of this character under taken by the Canadian government, and is de signed to overcome the 27 miles that separate Lake Erie from Lake Ontario. The difference in level between the two lakes is 3264 feet. The first canal was opened 27 Nov. 1829, and extended from Port Dalhousie on Lake Ontario to the Welland River, which was util ized as far as its outlet to the Niagara River. Vessels then ascended the Niagara to Lake Erie. In 1833 a diveision was made by extend ing the canal to Port Colbome on Lake Erie. In 1842 improvements and enlargements were made, and in 1875 a new cutting was begun from Allanburg to Port Dalhousie. In 1912
further enlargements were undertaken, at an estimated cost of $50,000,000. The present channel will be used from Port Colborne to Thorold, and from there a new cutting will be made to Lake Ontario, entering the lake about three miles east of Port Dalhousie. This canal will be 25 miles in length, and in place of 25 locks will have seven locks, all of which are to be between Thorold and Lake Ontario. Each lift lock will be 800 feet by 80 feet in the clear with 30 feet of water above the sills, and will have a lift of 4654 feet. Provision is to be made to admit of a future 30-foot naviga tion. It is believed the opening of the new canal will favorably affect wheat freights and will result in the diversion of much traffic from the Buffalo-New York route to the Saint Law rence. In 1915 3,061,012 tons passed through the Welland Canal, a decrease of 982,026 tons on the figures for 1914.
Sault Sainte Marie Built to over come the falls and rapids of Saint Mary River connecting Lake Superior with Lake Huron, it was opened for navigation in 1895. This was not the first canal to be constructed, the North west Company having built a small canal at the end of the 18th century. The Sault Sainte Marie Canal has a lock 900 feet long with a width of 60 feet and depth of water on the sills of 18 feet 3 inches at the lowest known water level. In 1897, 4,947,065 tons of freight passed through the Canadian Canal, and by 1913 the tonnage had increased to 42,699,324 tons. These figures had declined in 1914 to 27,599,184 tons; and the following year, 1915, an extraordinary reduction took place, the freight passing through being only 7,750,957 tons—a decrease for the 12 months of 19,848, 227 tons. Of the decline of traffic at this gate way, 1,049,241 tons (or 5.1 per cent) attached to Canadian traffic, and 18,798,986 (or 94.9 per cent) to American traffic. The decrease was largely in the nature of a diversion to the American Canal at Sault Sainte Marie. The cause of this diversion was the availability of a new lock on the American side, having a much larger capacity than• the lock on the Ca nadian side. The practicability of carrying a heavier load through the new American lock drew away nearly all the iron ore trade and a good deal of wheat from the Canadian canal.
Saint Peter's The Saint Peter's Canal connects Saint Peter's Bay on the Atlan tic Ocean with Bras d'Or Lake, a salt-water estuary in Cape Breton, Island. It was com pleted in 1869, was enlarged between 1875 and 1879, and has a lock 200 feet long, 48 feet wide, with 19 feet depth of water. A new entrance from the Atlantic is being made, with enlarge ment of the lock