Research

Administrative History

The Welland Canal, part of Canada's St. Lawrence system, connects the western end of Lake Ontario with the eastern extremity of Lake Erie. It opened in 1829, was completed from lake to lake in 1833, and was enlarged in 1871 and again in 1887. Deepening of the Welland Canal in the 1950s conformed it to the St. Lawrence Seaway but left two obstacles. First, a series of five single locks dictated one-way only traffic through portions of the canal. To expand the canal by duplicating the locks would be very expensive. Second, operating capacity of the Welland Canal was lessened because of winter weather which closes it.

The St. Lawrence Seaway connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Great Lakes. Amid much controversy, it was improved by the U.S. and Canada in the late 1950s, and opened as a deep waterway in 1959. A section of the seaway between two long stretches of open navigation was impeded by shoals and rapids and a series of Canadian canals and locks (such as the Welland) which were inadequate for large tonnage. The removal of this "bottleneck" was the objective of joint Canadian-U.S. construction during the 1950s. Works designed principally to provide hydroelectric power, but which contributed to the navigation project, were built by New York State and the Province of Ontario. American construction was carried out by the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation and the Army Corps of Engineers, both of which are represented in the series.

State government policy discussions were apparently triggered by a move to relegate the project to inactive status by the Corps of Engineers. Information was needed to establish economic justification and/or engineering feasibility of constructing/improving the canal, and to bring cost estimates up to date (i.e., to 1955 dollars). There were several problems: construction of the canal along routes where the projected rights of way had been overtaken by concentrated industrial and residential building; lack of sponsors; and studies of traffic potential of a western New York canal were tied to the amount of traffic on the St. Lawrence Seaway, the full effect of which was unknown. Materials in the file provide background information and "current" opinions.