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Today is the 50th anniversary of the official opening of the Poe Lock in Sault Ste. Marie.
The current Poe Lock measures 1,200 feet long, 110 feet wide and 32 feet deep. Even at 50 years old, it serves as the newest and most frequently used member of the Soo Locks along with the MacArthur and the dormant Sabin and Davis Locks.
“The Poe is the largest lock we have on-site and the only one that can handle boats longer than 730 feet long,” said United States Army Corps of Engineers Park Ranger Michelle Briggs. “There are only a handful of American cargo vessels on the Great Lakes that are small enough to fit in the MacArthur Lock, so the steady shipment of raw materials to ports on the lower lakes depends on the Poe Lock.”
Originally built as the third Soo Lock in 1896 to replace the State Lock, the Poe, engineered by Orlando Poe, was once the largest lock in the word measuring 800 feet long and 100 feet wide. As ships began to exponentially grow throughout the first half of the 20th century, and with the Saint Lawrence Seaway opening allowing passage into the Great Lakes, the need for an even larger lock grew.
Planning began in 1958 to replace the first Poe Lock with a larger and deeper chamber. Once construction on the rebuild wrapped in 1968 it was officially christened with a ceremony on June 26, 1969. The then-647 feet long (now 767) Phillip R. Clarke was the first vessel to be locked through the Poe on that June day. Four years later, the first 1,000-foot-long freighters passed through it.
“Visitors are always impressed with the size of the 1,000 footers as they glide into the Poe Lock. They are even more amazed to learn how tightly they fit in that lock. The freighters are 105 feet wide and the lock is 110,” explained Briggs.
According to a recent United States Army Corps of Engineers economic vitality study, the Poe Lock handles 89 percent of the tonnage that pass through the Soo Locks and on average has 60 million tons of cargo that passes through it annually.
With Soo Locks Engineers Day on Friday, upwards of 10,000 visitors will have a chance to checkout the Poe Lock and see it in action.
