St. Lawrence Seaway

St. Lawrence Seaway
Specifications
Length	370 miles (600 km)
Maximum boat length	740 ft 0 in (225.6 m)
Maximum boat beam	78 ft 0 in (23.8 m)
Maximum boat draft	12.5 m (downstream of Quebec City), 10.7 m (Quebec City to Deschaillons), 11.3 m (Deschaillons to Montreal), 8.2 m (upstream of Montreal)
Locks	15
Maximum height above sea level	570 ft (170 m)
Status	Open
History
Construction began	1954
Date of first use	April 25
Date completed	1959
Geography
Start point	Port Colborne, Ontario
End point	Montreal, Quebec

The St. Lawrence Seaway (French: la Voie Maritime du Saint-Laurent) is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North America, as far inland as Duluth, Minnesota, at the western end of Lake Superior. The seaway is named for the St. Lawrence River, which flows from Lake Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean. Legally, the seaway extends from Montreal, Quebec, to Lake Erie, and includes the Welland Canal. Ships from the Atlantic Ocean are able to reach ports in all five of the Great Lakes, via the Great Lakes Waterway.

The St. Lawrence River portion of the seaway is not a continuous canal; rather, it consists of several stretches of navigable channels within the river, a number of locks, and canals along the banks of the St. Lawrence River to bypass several rapids and dams. A number of the locks are managed by the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation in Canada, and others in the United States by the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation; the two bodies together advertise the seaway as part of "Highway H₂O".^[1] The section of the river from Montreal to the Atlantic is under Canadian jurisdiction, regulated by the offices of Transport Canada in the Port of Quebec.