SAULT STE. MARIE, MI — A long-delayed effort to reconfigure and expand the Soo Locks complex to accommodate the largest Great Lakes ships is receiving enough funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law to complete the project.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will receive $479 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which will be used over several years to build a new shipping lock that will enable the “1,000-footer” sized ships to move between Lake Superior and Lake Huron via the St. Marys River.
The funding follows $480 million for the upgrade in the president’s 2022 budget last summer, and almost $300 million in 2020 and 2021 Congressional appropriations. The project is estimated to cost between $1.3 and $1.5 billion.
“After a hard-fought effort, we finally have full funding of the Corp’s budget to finish building the new lock at the Soo Locks,” U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow said Wednesday, Jan. 19.
The Army Corps is reconfiguring the inactive Davis and Sabin locks into a single large chamber similar to the existing Poe Lock, which is 1,200-foot long and 110-feet wide. It’s the only lock big enough to move the largest Great Lakes ships.
A second super-sized lock will ensure that ore from the Minnesota iron range could still reach steel mills on the lower Great Lakes should the Poe Lock break down.
The upgrade project was originally authorized by Congress in 1986. It was reauthorized in 2018 after the Army Corps recalculated its economic feasibility. In 2016, a federal Homeland Security report suggested an unexpected six-month Poe Lock outage would wreak havoc on supply chains, plunge the country into a recession and cost 11 million jobs.
Advance work has been underway for a couple years. The Army Corps has been preparing shipping channels around the locks for the rebuild. About 150,000 cubic yards of sandstone has been excavated from the north channel to deepen it for larger ships. That work will resume this spring alongside stabilization efforts on upstream approach walls.
The final phase of construction, building the new lock chamber itself, is expected to begin this year.
Mollie Mahoney, project manager with the Army Corps Detroit District, said bids are being solicited for construction of the new chamber. The goal is to award a contract this spring.
The project is expected to finish in 2030.
“We have so many people helping make this project a reality. It’s really helped pave the way for a successful project,” Mahoney said.
Mahoney called the project a “monumental effort” that’s complicated by the colder climate. Construction work will have to be halted each year during the winter.
“It’s challenging to place concrete December to March in Sault Ste. Marie,” Mahoney said. “If our project were in a warmer climate, that timeline would be shorter.”
Also, the new lock chamber will be in the northern side of the facility, “which complicates construction because contractors will need to cross two active navigation locks and a very active navigation channel to access the site,” she said.
Mahoney said the Army Corps must return to Congress for reauthorization should the project costs exceed estimates, which account for inflation and other factors.
“The current state of material prices and labor shortages does have an impact on our cost,” she said.
The Army Corps civil works plan announced Wednesday also includes $37.3 million for maintenance at the shipping complex, which closed for annual maintenance Jan. 16. The bulk carrier Sam Laud was the last vessel through this season. The locks reopen March 25.
More than 4,500 vessels, carrying up to 80 million tons of iron ore, wheat, coal, limestone and other cargos, maneuver through the locks complex annually. Opened in 1969, the Poe Lock is 1,200 feet long. The MacArthur Lock was opened in 1943 and is 800 feet long.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer praised the funding allocation Wednesday, saying the investment will protect jobs and uplift the economy.
“The locks are critical to facilitating trade and economic cooperation between our two peninsulas and Great Lakes neighbors,” Whitmer said in a statement. “Our federal partners are also bolstering critical Michigan harbors, further shoring up our waterways and enabling businesses to trade goods and supplies more easily. I am grateful to our congressional delegation for fighting for this investment.”
Also announced Wednesday was $225.8 million in funding to reconfigure a different lock system, the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet, Ill., where the Army Corp is planning to construct gauntlet-style defenses to keep invasive carp from reaching Lake Michigan.
The Brandon Road money, also from the infrastructure bill, will complete pre-construction, engineering and design work on the project, as well as fund some initial construction.
“This is a historic step forward for this critically needed project to add a chain of smart technologies to the waterway that will stop invasive carp from reaching Lake Michigan,” said Molly Flanagan, chief operating officer at the Chicago-based Alliance for the Great Lakes.
President Joe Biden signed the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package in November, from which about $10 billion is going to fix roads, bridges, water distribution systems and expanding high-speed internet access and electric vehicle charging networks in Michigan.
Related stories:
Icy finish: 3 boats lock through Soo on final day
After 2021 water woes, Michigan readies for fix money
Utilities struggle w/ outages amid climate change
Govs, lawmakers push for carp project funds
Ballast water rule puts Great Lakes at risk, groups argue
Ad Choices