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  • Soo Locks to close 150 feet of the Hydro Plant tail race for safety

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District will permanently close a small portion of the Soo Locks Hydro Plant tail race to ensure the safety of all mariners. A safety zone extending 150 feet downstream of the U.S. Government Hydroelectric Power Plants has been established. Signs will be posted at the east end of the closed safety zone to notify all mariners of the safety restricted area.

  • Soo Locks to host Engineers Day 2025

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in conjunction with the City of Sault Ste. Marie, the Sault Ste. Marie Convention & Visitors Bureau, the United States Coast Guard, the Lake Superior State University Center for Freshwater Research and Education, Hospice of the Eastern Upper Peninsula, and Superior Health Systems are hosting open house events for the 2025 Soo Locks Engineers Day on June 27. Visitors are welcome into the Soo Locks facility and across the MacArthur Lock from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Friday, June 27. Engineers Day honors the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ June 16, 1775, birthday. The Corps of Engineers is proud to celebrate 250 years of service to the nation. Since the beginning, the Corps of Engineers has been at the forefront of engineering excellence, responding to the nation’s most complex challenges with unmatched expertise and dedication.

  • Soo Locks to open early for 2025 shipping season

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District will open the Poe Lock, part of the Soo Locks, in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan early to all marine traffic at 8 a.m. on March 21, marking the start of the 2025 Great Lakes shipping season. The shipping industry requested an early season opening based on the understanding that “the 2025 winter lock maintenance will be completed by this date and an early opening will not impact U.S. Army Corps operations this season,” said Lake Carriers’ Association President James Weakley. “Opening the Soo Locks on March 21 will provide relief to the increased pressure that the Great Lakes Navigation System will face with the influx of foreign vessels including the Canadian domestic fleet on March 22 when the Seaway opens,” said Weakley.

  • Soo Locks Closing for Seasonal Repair, Maintenance

    The Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan will close to all marine traffic beginning 11:59 p.m. January 15, or until commercial traffic ceases, through 12:01 a.m. March 25 to perform seasonal critical maintenance. Federal regulation (33 CFR 207.440) establishes the operating season based on the feasibility of vessels operating during typical Great Lakes ice conditions. “Every year, the Corps of Engineers uses the non-navigation winter period to perform maintenance and keep the Soo Locks operating,” Maintenance Branch Chief Nicholas Pettit said. “The Soo Project Office team works long hours in extreme conditions to complete a significant amount of maintenance during this annual closure period. The work they perform is unique, especially given the harsh northern Michigan winter conditions they work in.”

  • MacArthur Lock closing for seasonal repair, maintenance

    The Soo Locks’ MacArthur Lock will close for the Navigation Season to conduct seasonal repairs and maintenance on December 16, 2024. The Poe Lock will remain open until Jan. 15, 2025, or until commercial traffic ceases, whichever occurs first. The Soo Locks operating season is fixed by federal regulation (33 CFR 207.440). “The 800-foot-long MacArthur Lock, built in 1943, is now 81 years old; this maintenance period is critical to keeping the lock in operation during the shipping season,” Maintenance Branch Chief Nicholas Pettit said. The MacArthur Lock has seen 2,806 lockages and 5,170 passages (number of vessels) since opening April 24, 2024, to now, December 12, 2024.

  • New Lock at the Soo to host public meeting for 2024-2025 blasting activities

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District and New Lock at the Soo contractor Kokosing Alberici Traylor, LLC (KAT) will host an in-person and virtual public meeting at 6 p.m., November 21, 2024, to inform the public of test blasting activities needed for project construction. The Corps of Engineers contracted KAT to complete Phase 3 construction of the New Lock at the Soo project. This work includes the excavation of bedrock scheduled for this year and 2025. “The project team will perform test blasts to fracture the existing bedrock to be excavated and removed,” Rachel Miller, New Lock at the Soo Contracting Officer’s Representative said. “All blasting will be completed within the Corps of Engineers Soo Locks facility in the existing decommissioned Sabin Lock area.”

  • Soo Locks Visitor Center closes for 2024 season

    SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District closes the Soo Locks Visitor Center in Canal Park at 7 p.m. Oct. 31 for the 2024 season. Visitor Center hours for the remainder of Oct. are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. The park is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily for the month of October and will transition to winter hours (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) on Nov. 1.

  • New Lock at the Soo Phase 2 complete

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District’s New Lock at the Soo project in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, substantially completed Phase 2 (Upstream Approach Walls) contract on September 17. “Phase 2 work focused on rehabilitating the upstream approach walls to guide vessels into the New Lock and will allow the vessels to moor on the wall,” New Lock at the Soo Project Engineer Ryan Berkompas said. “The old approach walls in the northern channel were the same age as the Sabin and Davis Locks, over 100 years old.” The Corps of Engineers awarded the $117 million contract in September 2020 to Kokosing-Alberici, of Westerville, Ohio.

  • Chamber Lock Operational Option 3 awarded for New Lock at the Soo

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District’s New Lock at the Soo project in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, awards $222.7 million contract Option 3 (Chamber Lock Operational) to Kokosing Alberici Traylor, LLC (KAT) of Westerville, Ohio. The Option 3 award will allow for construction to proceed as required to have a fully functional lock. “Option 3 includes construction of the lock floor, installation of the mechanical and electrical systems, completion of the filling and emptying system, placing soil in between the New Lock and old Davis Lock, and commissioning of the lock chamber,” said Inland Navigation Design Center, New Lock at the Soo Technical Lead Darin White.  With the on-time award of Option 3, the project continues to be on track for completion in 2030.

  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers removes WWII era gates hidden in St. Marys River

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, removed a spare set of miter gates, constructed for the Davis and Sabin Locks, from the St. Marys River this summer. The miter gates were hidden in the river for over 80 years and weighed about 350,000 pounds each. The gates were strategically stored downriver of the Soo Locks facility and out of the federal navigation channel in the 1940s during World War II. The purpose of storing the gates downriver was to have a spare set of replacement gates for either lock if the installed gates were damaged. “The Davis and Sabin locks were built in 1914 and 1919 and at the time were the largest locks in the world,” said Chief Park Ranger Michelle Briggs.