31 Jul 2025

New Lock at the Soo Mega Project Raises the Bar for Success

Members of the New Lock at the Soo Integrated Project Office (IPO) team along with engineers from the Inland Navigation Design Center (INDC) acknowledged a significant milestone within this Detroit District’s high visibility mega project; they’ve completed the review and approval of over 2,600 technical submittals. The average, run-of-the-mill construction project typically sees a couple hundred submittals. Maintaining momentum requires the contractor to provide technical assurances that the execution strategies they intend to employ will meet or exceed contractual requirements and specifications. These assurances, provided in the form of a written submittal (transmittal) offer detailed written and pictorial descriptions and renderings of how the contractor intends to perform various tasks. Articulating these strategies and gaining Corps of Engineers concurrence permits the contractor to proceed without incurring delays, achieve milestones, and invoice the government in a timely manner. This New Lock at the Soo celebrated milestone pales in comparison to the fact that the IPO, INDC, and their contractor may publish and review yet another 3,000 submittals before the first freighter makes its way through the new lock.

20 Oct 2022

New Lock at the Soo: Unlocking the Great Lakes

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich., – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District works on unlocking the Great Lakes by providing a much-needed resiliency at the Soo Locks with the construction of the New Lock at the Soo. The New Lock at the Soo will be the same dimensions as the Poe Lock, 1,200 feet long, 110 feet wide and 30 feet deep. Often called the “linchpin” of the Great Lakes navigation system, the Soo Locks are located in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan between the upper Peninsula of Michigan and the Canadian province of Ontario. The Soo Locks enable bulk carrier vessels to safely bypass the swift-moving St. Marys River rapids where the water drops 21 feet over bedrock in a three-quarter mile stretch. The St. Marys River is the only connecting waterway between Lakes Superior and the lower Great Lakes. Before the first lock was constructed in 1798, trade canoes had to be unloaded and portaged around the rapids, taking roughly six weeks to complete. Today, the locks operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 42 weeks of the year allowing government, commercial and private vessels to transit safely and more efficiently.

5 Mar 2021

Corps lowers impact to fish spawning near Soo Locks

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. (March 5, 2021) - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) officials will use dry blasting during New Lock at the Soo construction to avoid or drastically minimize impacts to fish larvae and adult fish spawning near the Soo Locks. The Soo Locks on the St. Marys River allow vessels to navigate the 21 ft elevation change between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. A new Poe-sized lock being built will provide necessary redundancy in the Great Lakes Navigation System’s critical infrastructure. To build the New Lock, deepening the channel on the upstream side (west) of the Poe lock is necessary. Dredging is scheduled to occur in 2021-2022.