The evening times., 1899-11-20
THE soULANGES CANAL.
The Improved Waterway Befween
Montreal aud the Great Lakes.

(From the Detroit Journal)
The recent opening OF the Soulanges Ca
nal marks the completion of a fourteen foot
| waterway between Montreal and the Great
| Lakes, and thus puts the coping stone on
\ the great system of Canadian canals, on
which nearly SAC. 900 900 has been expended.
! The shipping season is now so near its
close that the new canal. though formally
opened will not be used until the spring;
but next summer steamers with draft OF
fourteen feet will be able to take on cargoes
Of wheat at Fort William and come through
to Montreal without breaking cargo.
The Soulanges Canal was designed TO
replace the shallow Beauharnois Canal,
which is on the other side Of the river.
When the question of deepening the st.
Lawrence canals from nine TO fourteen feet
was brought up, some ten years ago. the
engineers reported that it would be cheaper
to cut new canal on the other side OF the
st. Lawrence than 10 deepen and enlarge
the Beauharnuis Canal, and accordingly
the canal just completed was begun The
canal is the connecting link between Lake
st. Francis and Lake st. Louis. between
which the mighty St. Lawrence falls eigh-
ty-two and a half feet four great rapids
the Couteau. Cedars. Split Rock. and Cas-
cades-cccurring within distance OF six
teen miles. 'tfss HE
Inc canal iedNeS Lake IL IuSt
below the village of Couteau Landing, and
runs in an almost direct line 10 the Ottawa
River which IL enters Two miles from its
confluence with the ST. Lawrence at the
Cascades. The fall OF eighty-two and cne-
half feet is overcome Dy four locks; sew
enty and one-half feet of this is at the
Cascades end. where the bluff forming the
right bank OF the Ottawa gives an oppor
tunity of locating three of the locks in the
Of
three and half feet. The fourth lock
is situated a little over three miles from
the entrance. About 1,O0Q feet above No.
4 a pair OF heavy guard gates have been
placed in solid abutments OF concrete and
masonry. At the upper end guard lock
has been constructed, which will be used
as a lift lock only when the level of the
lake rises above the mean stages.
Lockages will be made in from twelve
to fifteen minutes; this means a capacity
for passing during an ordinary season
20 600 600 tons of freight. The canal over
comes 45 per cent of the total rise in the
ST. Lawrence from Montreal 10 Lake On
tario. The minimum depth of water in the
canal will be fourteen feet, but this will
be reached only in seasons of very low
water the depth at mena stages being
about seventeen feet.
The canal has cost over s5.000,00o. Il is
operated and lighted entirely by electricity.
which is distributed from a central power
house. Turbines giving maximum of $40
horse power will operate the generators.
In building the canal many serious en-
gineering problems had TO be met and con-
quered. To pass the drainage OF the coun-
try lying TO the north necessitated large |
outlay. The River Delisle. with a maxi |
mum flow of more than 200, 900 cubic feet |
a minute had TO be carried under the canal /
through four cast iron pipes, ten feet in /
laid in a trench fifty feet wide !
and excated to the required depth. The !
two other rivers of less volume are also |
carried under the canal
In past seasons the average wheat rate
from Chicago TO New York by way of the
lakes and the Erie Canal was 8 3-4 cents a |
bushel. and the rate from Chicago TO Mon
treal cents. The opening of the new ca
nal will, il is believed here, reduce the rate
from Chicago to this port about cents
bushel, or approximately one-half the rate
from Chicago TO New York by the Erie
Canal.