The Philip R. Clarke was the last ship through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan for the 2023-2024 navigation season on January 16, 2024.
The Clarke enters the Poe Lock from Lake Superior, lowers 21 feet in elevation in the lock chamber and heads downstream to offload a shipment of iron ore pellets at a steel mill on the lower Great Lakes.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, is receiving a total allocation in the Operations & Maintenance account of $291.2 million in the Work Plan, released May 15, 2025, for connecting channels and harbor projects, $264.1 million for the New Lock at the Soo construction project and $3.6 million to conduct investigation studies.
The released work plan provides the entire appropriation for the Corps of Engineers under the...
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...
