Editing Welland Canal (section)

{{Short description|Ship canal in Ontario, Canada, connecting Lake Ontario and Lake Erie}}
{{Use Canadian English |date=December 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox Canal
  |name                    = Welland Canal
  |image                   =  Welland Canal aerial.png
  |image_caption           =
  |former_names            =
  |mapframe                = yes
  |mapframe-zoom           = 8
  |original_owner          = Welland Canal Company
  |engineer                = Hiram Tibbetts
  |other_engineer          =
  |date_act                =
  |date_began              = {{start date and age|1824}}
  |date_use                =
  |date_completed          = {{start date and age|1829|11|30}}
  |date_extended           = {{start date and age|1833}}
  |date_closed             =
  |date_restored           = {{start date and age|1932|08|06}}
  |len_ft                  = 740
  |len_in                  = 0
  |original_boat_length_ft =
  |original_boat_length_in =
  |len_note                =
<!---Warning:unknown parameter "max_boat_draft" (this message is shown only in preview). --->
  |max_boat_draft          = 26.5 ft (8.08 m)
  |beam_ft                 = 78
  |beam_in                 = 0
  |original_beam_ft        =
  |original_beam_in        =
  |beam_note               =
  |start_point             = [[Lake Ontario]] at [[Port Weller, Ontario|Port Weller]] (St. Catharines)
  |original_start          =
  |start_note              =
  |end_point               = [[Lake Erie]] at [[Port Colborne]]
  |original_end            =
  |end_note                =
  |branch                  =
  |branch_of               =
  |connects_to             =
  |length_mi               = 27
  |locks                   = 8
  |original_num_locks      =
  |lock_note               =
  |status                  = Open
  |navigation_authority    = [[Saint Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation]]
  | module                 = 
}}
[[File:Map of the Welland Canal.png|thumb|The Welland Canal connects [[Lake Ontario]] and [[Lake Erie]] through a series of eight locks, allowing ships to bypass the {{convert|51|m|ft|abbr=on}} high [[Niagara Falls]]]]
[[File:Welland Canal image.png|thumb|Welland Canal with [[Garden City Skyway]] and [[Homer Bridge|Homer Lift Bridge]]]]
[[File:WellandLock3.JPG|thumb|A ship in Lock 3 of the Welland Canal in [[St. Catharines]], just south of the Homer Lift Bridge and Garden City Skyway]]

The '''Welland Canal''' is a [[ship canal]] in [[Ontario]], Canada, and part of the [[St. Lawrence Seaway]] and [[Great Lakes Waterway]]. The canal traverses the [[Niagara Peninsula]] between [[Port Weller, Ontario|Port Weller]] on [[Lake Ontario]], and [[Port Colborne]] on [[Lake Erie]], and was erected because the [[Niagara River]]—the only natural waterway connecting the lakes—was unnavigable due to [[Niagara Falls]].  The Welland Canal enables ships to ascend and descend the [[Niagara Escarpment]], and has followed four different routes since it opened.

The Welland Canal<ref name=":0" /> passes about 3,000 ships which transport about {{convert|40|e6t|e9lb|abbr=off}} of cargo a year. It was a major factor in the growth of the city of [[Toronto, Ontario]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.portstoronto.com/port-of-toronto/225-years-of-port-activity.aspx |title=225 Years of Port Activity |website=PortsToronto}}</ref> The original canal and its successors allowed goods from [[Great Lakes]] ports such as [[Cleveland]], [[Detroit]], [[Milwaukee]], and [[Chicago]], as well as other heavily industrialized areas of the [[United States]] and [[Ontario]], to be shipped to the [[Port of Montreal]] or to [[Port of Quebec|Quebec City]], where they were usually reloaded onto ocean-going vessels for international shipping.

Since its initial opening on November 30, 1829, the canal has been reconstructed numerous times to accommodate larger vessels and provide for quicker navigation. The First Welland Canal was excavated between 1824 and 1829, and operated until 1845. The Second Welland Canal, built between 1841 and 1845, had locks made of stone rather than wood, and had greater width and depth than the First Canal; it remained in operation for nearly a century before closing permanently in 1935. The Third Welland Canal, built between 1872 and 1877, was deeper and wider still and cut a straighter path through the escarpment, and featured 26 masonry locks lined with wood to protect ships rubbing against the sides or bottom; it too operated until 1935. The Fourth Welland Canal began construction in 1913 and, after a delay due to [[World War I]], was eventually completed in 1932; deeper and wider than the Third Canal, its opening permitted two large ships to pass going in opposite directions, and it featured only eight locks, as compared with the 40 locks of the First Canal. It remains in operation to this day.<ref name="The Welland Canals – History">{{cite web | url=http://wellandcanals.ca/History.html | title=The Welland Canals – History }}</ref>

The Welland Canal eclipsed{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} other, narrower canals in the region, such as the [[Trent-Severn Waterway]] and, significantly, the [[Erie Canal]] (which linked the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] and Lake Erie via [[New York City]] and [[Buffalo, New York]]) by providing a shorter, more direct connection from Port Colbourne on Lake Erie to Port Weller on Lake Ontario.

The southern, Lake Erie terminus of the canal is {{convert|99.5|m|ft|abbr=off}} higher than the northern terminus on Lake Ontario. The canal includes eight {{convert|24.4|m|ft|adj=mid|-wide}} [[lock (water transport)|ship locks]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greatlakes-seaway.com/en/pdf/welland.pdf |title=Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System – The Welland Canal Section of the St. Lawrence Searey |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121119003530/http://www.greatlakes-seaway.com/en/pdf/welland.pdf |archive-date=November 19, 2012 }}</ref> Seven of the locks (Locks 1–7, the 'Lift' locks) are {{convert|233.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} long and raise (or lower) passing ships by between {{convert|43|and|49|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}} each. The southernmost lock, (Lock 8 – the 'Guard' or 'Control' lock) is {{convert|349.9|m|ft|abbr=on}} in length.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.offshoreblue.com/cruising/welland-canal.php|title=The Welland Canal – Navigation, Locks, Distances, and Passage Information|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710063950/http://www.offshoreblue.com/cruising/welland-canal.php|archive-date=July 10, 2017}}</ref> The [[Garden City Skyway]] passes over the canal, restricting the maximum height of the masts of the ships allowed on this canal to {{convert|35.5|m|ft|abbr=on}}.

All other highway or railroad crossings of the Welland Canal are either [[movable bridge]]s (of the [[vertical-lift bridge|vertical lift]] or [[bascule bridge]] types) or tunnels. The [[Seawaymax|maximum permissible length of a ship in this canal]] is {{convert|225.5|m|ft|abbr=off}}. It takes ships an average of about eleven hours to traverse the entire length of the Welland Canal.