Trent-Severn Waterway
Encyclopedia : T : TR : TRE : Trent-Severn Waterway
- This article is not about the British company Severn Trent Water.
- For waterways in England with Trent and Severn in their names see Canals of the United Kingdom
It traverses Southern Ontario's "cottage country" with recreational properties being the primary industry along the waterway. It is open for navigation from May until October.
The total length of the waterway is 386 km, beginning at Trenton, Ontario, with roughly 32 km of man-made channels. There are 45 locks, including 36 conventional locks, two sets of flight locks, hydraulic lift locks at Peterborough and Kirkfield, and a marine railway at Big Chute which transports boats between the upper and lower sections of the Severn.
It reaches its highest point at Balsam Lake; this is, in fact, the highest point on Earth to which a vessel can be navigated from sea level.
History
In the mid-1800s the river systems of Central Ontario were used by lumber barons to easily transport the newly felled trees to sawmills closer to market. Many of the logging companies opposed the building of locks for it interfered with their business interests. The logging companies did, however, help to create thriving communities like Bobcaygeon and Fenelon Falls, all of which helped to delay the building of the lock system.
Construction began in the Kawartha Lakes region in 1833 with the Lock at Bobcaygeon marking its beginning. It took over 87 years to finish the waterway, and only in 1920 could a boat travel the whole route.
The slow progress was noticed by the Canadian government. In 1878 Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald tried to speed up progress by making it government policy to ensure that the system would be completed. Even with this it would take several decades more.
The lock system aided the development of central Ontario, allowing a quick and efficient flow of goods to and from the major trading centres along Lake Ontario. The rugged, rough terrain of this area of the province made travel by land extremely difficult and time-consuming.
When the canal was finally completed, it failed to have a major impact on the economy of the regions it was built to serve. In general, it was designed for boats that were too small to be commercially viable. And in the years that it was under construction, railroads had further developed their networks and improved service, which influenced settlement patterns. It finally became completely obsolete for commercial purposes when the Welland Canal was built. The Welland Canal could handle ships large enough to sail across the ocean.
The lock system is still in service and is maintained and operated by Parks Canada, a federal government agency. The canals are now a tourist feature catering to recreational boaters.
List of locks
Starting from Lake Ontario (distance listed represents the distance via water from Lake Ontario which is KM 0).
Trenton Region
Lock 1 Trenton (2.9 km - lift height of 6 m/20 feet)
Lock 2 Sidney (3.9 km - Lift 5.8 m/19 feet)
Lock 3 Glen Miller (6.2 km - Lift 8.5 m/28 feet)
Lock 4 Batawa (8.3 km - lift 5.5 m/18 feet)
Lock 5 Trent (10.3 km - Lift 5.2 m/17 feet)
Lock 6 Frankford (11.7 km - Lift 5.2 m/17 feet)
Lock 7 Glen Ross (22.2 km - Lift 3.6 m/11 feet)
Lock 8 Percy Reach (40.7 km - Lift 5.8 m/19 feet)
Lock 9 Meyers (42.5 km - Lift 4.6 m/15 feet)
Lock 10 Haigs Reach (45.0 km - Lift 7.3 m/24 feet)
Lock 11 & 12 Ranney Falls (47.8 km - Lift 14.6 m/48 feet)
Lock 13 Campbellford (51.8 km - Lift 7 m/23 feet)
Lock 14 Crowe Bay (54.2 km - Lift 7.9 m/26 feet)
Lock 15 Healey Falls (58.2 km or - Lift 6.7 m/22 feet)
Lock 16 & 17 Healey Falls (58.8 km - Lift - 16.5 m/54 feet)
Lock 18 Hastings (82.3 km - Lift 2.7 m/9 feet)
Kawartha Lakes Region
Lock 19 Scotts Mills (142.8km - Lift 2.4 m/8 feet)
Lock 20 Ashburnham (144.5 km)
Lock 21 Peterborough Hydraulic Lift Lock (Peterborough Lift Lock) (145.0 km - 19.8 m/65 feet)
Lock 22 Nassau Mills (151.7 km - Lift 4.3 m/14 feet)
Lock 23 Otonabee (152 km - Lift 3.7 m/12 feet)
Lock 24 Douro (155.1 km - Lift 3.7 m/12 feet)
Lock 25 Sawyer Creek (156.6 km - Lift 3 m/10 feet)
Lock 26 Lakefield (158.9 km - Lift 4.9 m/16 feet)
Lock 27 Young's Point (168.1 km - Lift 2.1 m/7 feet)
Lock 28 Burleigh Falls (181.8 km - Lift 7.3 m/24 feet)
Lock 29 A new lock was built in 1968 which replaced 2 older locks - therefore there is no longer any Lock 29.
Lock 30 Lovesick (184.7 km - Lift 1.2 m/4 feet)
Lock 31 Buckhorn (194.2 km - Lift 3.4 m/11 feet)
Lock 32 Bobcaygeon (222.4 km - Lift 1.8 m/6 feet)
Lock 33 Lindsay – on a side branch of the waterway connecting to Lake Scugog (251.6 km - Lift 2.1 m/7 feet)
Lock 34 Fenelon Falls (247.2 km - Lift 7.3 m/24 feet)
Lock 35 Rosedale (252.9 km - Lift 1.2 m/4 feet)
Talbot Region
Kirkfield marks the descent towards Lake Huron.
Lock 36 Kirkfield Lift Lock - Completed 1907 (272.6 km - Lift 14.9 m/49 feet)
Lock 37 Bolsover (284.9 km - Lift 8.2 m/27 feet)
Lock 38 Talbot (286.5 km - Lift 4.3 m/14 feet)
Lock 39 Portage (289.1 km - Lift 4 m/13 feet)
Lock 40 Thorah (289.8 km - Lift 4.3 m/14 feet)
Lock 41 Gamebridge - Built 1906 (290.9 km - Lift 5.8 m/19 feet)
Lock 42 Couchiching (337.8 km - Lift 6.4 m/21 feet)
Severn Region
Lock 43 Swift Rapids - Marine railway completed 1919 - replaced in 1965 with an advanced conventional lock (361.2 km Lift 14.3 m/47 feet)
Lock 44 Big Chute Marine Railway - Completed 1917 - upgraded 1977 (374.1 km - Lift 17.4 m/57 feet)
Lock 45 Port Severn (387.1 km - Lift 4.3 m/14 feet)
See also
- Rideau Canal - Eastern Ontario waterway
- Welland Canal - Southern Ontario waterway
- Canal lock
- Boat lift
External links
- [Parks Canada Website]
- [Parks Canada - Trent-Severn Waterway National Historic Site of Canada]
- [Friends of the Trent-Severn Waterway]
- [TSWwiki]
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