DETROIT -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, announces that the New Soo Lock project in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan has been included in the fiscal year 2020 President’s Budget request to Congress in the amount of $75,333,000.
These funds are sufficient to initiate construction of the upstream approach walls, continue the design of the New Soo Lock chamber and complete construction of the upstream channel deepening. The funding breakdown is as follows:
- $62,031,000 to initiate construction of the upstream approach walls
- $8,355,000 for continuation of the lock chamber design
- $4,947,000 for completion of the upstream channel deepening construction
“It is a critical time for investing in our Nation’s infrastructure,” said Lt. Col. Greg Turner, district engineer. “Appropriation of the funds included for the New Soo Lock project in the President's Budget request would keep the project on track for completion in seven to ten years from the start of construction.”
Upstream approach walls construction will stabilize the existing approach walls to allow for modern vessels to tie up and wait their turn to pass through the New Soo Lock. It is anticipated that the upstream approach walls design will be complete in late 2019 and the construction contract will be awarded in summer 2020.
The next opportunity for funding to complete construction of the upstream approach walls is the 2020 Work Plan.
The Soo Locks are situated on the St. Marys River at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and allow vessels to transit the 21 foot elevation change at the St. Marys Falls Canal. This New Soo Lock project will construct a second Poe-sized lock (110 feet by 1,200 feet) on the site of the existing Davis and Sabin Locks. The Soo Locks are nationally critical infrastructure and the reliability of this critical node in the Great Lakes Navigation System is essential to U.S. manufacturing and National Security. Contingent on efficient funding, the New Soo Lock project, estimated to cost nearly $1 billion, could be completed in as few as seven years.
For more information about the New Soo Lock project, visit our website: https://www.lre.usace.army.mil/About/Highlighted-Projects/New_Soo_Lock/
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Release no. 24-004