Editing Welland Canal (section)

==History==
{{more citations needed|section|date=November 2018}}<!--First Canal has few references, 2nd/3rd/bypass subsections have none-->
Before the digging of the Welland Canal, shipping traffic between [[Lake Ontario]] and [[Lake Erie]] used a portage road between [[Chippawa, Ontario]], and [[Queenston, Ontario]], which are both located on the [[Niagara River]]—above and below [[Niagara Falls]], respectively.{{citation needed|date=December 2017}}

===First Welland Canal===
{{main|First Welland Canal}}

The [[Welland Canal Company]] was incorporated by the Province of Upper Canada, in 1824, after a petition by nine "freeholders of the District of Niagara". One of the petitioners was [[William Hamilton Merritt]], who was in part looking to provide a regular flow of water for his many [[Watermill|water-powered]] industries along the [[Twelve Mile Creek (Ontario)|Twelve Mile Creek]] in [[Thorold]]. The construction began at [[Allanburg, Ontario]], on November 30, at a point now marked as such on the west end of Bridge No. 11 (formerly [[Highway 20 (Ontario)|Highway 20]]). This canal opened for a trial run on November 30, 1829. After a short ceremony at Lock One, in Port Dalhousie, the schooner ''Anne & Jane'' (also called "Annie & Jane" in some texts<ref>{{cite book|last1=Merrit|first1=Jedediah|title=Biography of the Hon. W. H. Merritt, M. P|date=1875|publisher=E. S. Leavenworth|location=St. Catharines|pages=123|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=09EOAAAAYAAJ&q=schooner+annie+and+jane&pg=PA123|access-date=April 6, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405104216/https://books.google.com/books?id=09EOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA123&lpg=PA123&dq=schooner+annie+and+jane&source=bl&ots=gYhld0vsgd&sig=N4akDHaxaGVITP7zUT2d_pDfc48&hl=en&sa=X&ei=i5IiVaXZA5e_sQSvoIDQAQ&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=schooner%20annie%20and%20jane&f=false|archive-date=April 5, 2016}}</ref>) made the first transit, upbound to [[Buffalo, New York]], with Merritt as a passenger on her deck.

The first canal ran from [[Port Dalhousie, Ontario]], on Lake Ontario south along Twelve Mile Creek to [[St. Catharines]]. From there it took a winding route up the [[Niagara Escarpment]] through [[Merritton, Ontario]], to [[Thorold]], where it continued south via Allanburg to [[Port Robinson, Ontario]], on the [[Welland River]]. Ships went east (downstream) on the Welland River to Chippawa, at the south (upper) end of the old portage road, where they made a sharp right turn into the Niagara River, upstream towards Lake Erie. Originally, the section between Allanburg and Port Robinson was planned to be carried in a tunnel. However, the sandy soil in this part of [[Ontario]] made a tunnel infeasible, and a deep open-cut canal was dug instead.

A southern extension from Port Robinson opened in 1833, with the founding of Port Colborne. This extension followed the Welland River south to [[Welland]] (known then as the settlement of Aqueduct, for the wooden [[Navigable aqueduct|aqueduct]] that carried the canal over the Welland River at that point), and then split to run south to [[Port Colborne]] on Lake Erie. A feeder canal ran southwest from Welland to another point on Lake Erie, just west of [[Rock Point Provincial Park]] in [[Port Maitland, Ontario|Port Maitland]]. With the opening of the extension, the canal stretched {{convert|44|km|mi|abbr=on}} between the two lakes, with 40 wooden locks. The minimum lock size was {{convert|33.5|by|6.7|m|ft|abbr=on}}, with a minimum canal depth of {{convert|2.4|m|ft|abbr=on}}.

Deterioration of the wood used in the 40 locks and the increasing size of ships led to demand for the Second Welland Canal, which used cut stone locks, within just a few years.<ref name="Chambers2008">{{cite book|last=Chambers|first=Melanie|title=Frommer's Niagara Region|url=https://archive.org/details/frommersniagarar00mela|url-access=registration|date=February 26, 2008|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-15324-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/frommersniagarar00mela/page/199 199]}}</ref>

===Second Welland Canal===
[[File:Welland Canal - Second Canal - Lock.jpg|thumb|A lock of the second Welland Canal]]

In 1839 the government of [[Upper Canada]] approved the purchase of [[share (finance)|share]]s in the private canal company in response to the company's continuing financial problems in the face of the continental financial [[panic of 1837]]. The public buyout was completed in 1841, and work began to deepen the canal and to reduce the number of locks to 27, each {{convert|45.7|by|8.1|m|ft|abbr=on}}. By 1846, a {{convert|2.7|m|ft|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} deep path was completed through the Welland Canal, and by 1848 that depth was extended the rest of the way to the Atlantic Ocean via the future path of the [[St. Lawrence Seaway]].

Competition came in 1854 with the opening of the [[Erie and Ontario Railway]], running parallel to the original portage road. In 1859, the [[Welland Railway]] opened, parallel to the canal and with the same endpoints. But this railway was affiliated with the canal, and was actually used to help transfer cargoes from the lake ships, which were too large for the small canal locks, to the other end of the canal (The [[Trillium Railway]] owns the railway's remnants and [[Port Colborne Harbour Railway]]). Smaller ships called "canallers" also took a part of these loads. Due to this problem, it was soon apparent the canal would have to be enlarged again.{{citation needed|date=December 2017}} On April 20, 1882 the canal was re-opened, increasing the depth to twelve feet throughout. The increased depth allowed for ships carrying up to 24,000 bushels of grain to navigate the canal whereas they previously they had only been able to carry about 18,000 bushels. The first trip from Oswego carried 700 tons of coal, compared to 500 tons which was possible before the increased depth.<ref name="Scientific American, a division of Nature America, Inc. 1882 pp. 279–279">{{cite journal | title=New Welland Canal | journal=Scientific American | publisher=Scientific American, a division of Nature America, Inc. | volume=46 | issue=18 | year=1882 | issn=0036-8733 | jstor=26079026 | pages=279 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/26079026 | access-date=April 20, 2024}}</ref>

===Third Welland Canal===
[[File:Welland canal a030556.jpg|thumb|Aerial photo of Port Dalhousie from the third canal era. 3rd canal lock at left, 2nd canal lock at right. Note 3rd canal towpath at upper left and Muir brothers' ship yard centre right.]]
[[File:Old welland canal lock 2.JPG|thumb|left|Abandoned locks of the third canal]]

In 1887, a new shorter alignment was completed between St. Catharines and Port Dalhousie. One of the most interesting features of this third Welland Canal was the [[Merritton Tunnel]], built in 1876 on the [[Grand Trunk Railway]] line that ran under the canal between Locks 18 and 19. Another nearby tunnel carried the canal over a sunken section of the St David's Road. The new route had a minimum depth of {{convert|4.3|m|ft|abbr=on}} with 26 stone locks, each {{convert|82.3|m|ft|abbr=on}} long by {{convert|13.7|m|ft|abbr=on}} wide. Even so, the canal was still too small for many boats.
{{clear}}

===Fourth (current) Welland Canal===
[[File:MS Isa Welland Canal Lock 7.jpg|thumb|MS Isa lifted in Lock 7]]
[[File:132 JUNO in den Welland-Kanalschleusen.jpg|thumb|MS Juno leaving Lock 4]]
Construction on the current canal began in 1913, but work was put on hold from 1916 to 1919 due to a shortage of men and workers during [[World War I]] (1914–18) and was completed and officially opened on August 6, 1932. Dredging to the planned 25 foot depth was not completed until 1935. The route was again changed north of St. Catharines, now running directly north to [[Port Weller, Ontario|Port Weller]]. In this configuration, there are eight locks, seven at the Niagara Escarpment and the eighth, a [[control lock|guard lock]], at Port Colborne to adjust with the varying water depth in Lake Erie. The depth was now {{convert|7.6|m|ft|abbr=on}}, with locks {{convert|233.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} long by {{convert|24.4|m|ft|abbr=on}} wide. This canal is officially known now as the '''Welland Ship Canal'''. The Welland Canal's first "hands-free" [[Suction cup|vacuum]] [[Mooring (watercraft)#Other types|mooring]] was tested in Lock 7 prior to 2014.<ref>[http://www.marinepilots.ca/presentations/Pilotage-on-the-Welland-Canal-Mike-Burgess-IMPA-Congress-Panama-2014.pdf Pilotage on the Welland Canal] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809152555/http://www.marinepilots.ca/presentations/Pilotage-on-the-Welland-Canal-Mike-Burgess-IMPA-Congress-Panama-2014.pdf |date=August 9, 2017 }} page 6</ref> The installation of the updated systems for Locks 1 through 7 was originally set to be completed in 2017, but the project was not finished until early 2018 after unforeseen delays.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://coms.events/pianc-panama/data/abstracts/en/abstract_0133.html |title=Navigation Improvements for the Welland Canal |last=Miles |first=William |publisher=PIANC Panama|date=May 8, 2018|access-date=February 24, 2023|quote=(SLSMC) has recently completed two improvement projects for the Niagara Region of the St. Lawrence Seaway System on the Welland Canal in Ontario, Canada. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225031709/https://coms.events/pianc-panama/data/abstracts/en/abstract_0133.html |archive-date=February 25, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2015/08/07/search-engine-vacuum-pads-suck-ships-on-canal|title=Vacuum pads suck ships on canal|date=August 8, 2015|access-date=March 12, 2017|quote=next up are the flight Locks 4, 5 and 6, which will be prepped over the winter with installation scheduled for next year.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313041008/http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2015/08/07/search-engine-vacuum-pads-suck-ships-on-canal|archive-date=March 13, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|6J0tdUgVXK4 |Construction of new Cavotec vacuum mooring system at Locks 4 & 5}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|B1SCmYiqJTo |Construction of new Cavotec vacuum mooring system at Lock 4}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|DLHjJ7vJ6z8 |Welland Canal, suction lift mooring system}}</ref>

====Welland By-Pass====
In the 1950s, with the building of the present St. Lawrence Seaway, a standard depth of {{convert|8.2|m|ft|abbr=on}} was adopted. The {{convert|13.4|km|mi|adj=on}} long [[Welland By-Pass]], built between 1967 and 1972, opened for the 1973 shipping season, providing a new and shorter alignment between Port Robinson and Port Colborne and by-passing downtown Welland. All three crossings of the new alignment—one an aqueduct for the Welland River—were built as tunnels. Around the same time, the [[Thorold Tunnel]] was built at Thorold and several bridges were removed.

===Proposed Fifth Welland Canal===
These projects were to be tied into a proposed new canal, titled the '''Fifth Welland Canal''', which was planned to by-pass most of the existing canal to the east and to cross the Niagara Escarpment in four twinned [[Panamax]] locks. While land for the project was [[Eminent domain|expropriated]] and early designs initiated, the project never got past early planning or construction stages and has since been shelved.

The present Welland Ship Canal was originally designed to last until 2030, almost 100 years after it first opened, and 200 years since the first full shipping season of the original canal in 1830. Subsequent improvements to the canal infrastructure mean that it may last much longer before it needs to be replaced.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.joc.com/maritime-news/welland-canal-b-1829-still-work-progress_19990310.html|title=WELLAND CANAL (B. 1829) STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS|website=www.joc.com|language=en|access-date=December 7, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208003541/https://www.joc.com/maritime-news/welland-canal-b-1829-still-work-progress_19990310.html|archive-date=December 8, 2017}}</ref>