Editing Welland Canal (section)

===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.