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Construction and dredging work underway in Michigan, US, for the New Lock at the Soo project on the St Marys River, a natural border between US and Canada. (Image: Adobe Stock)

The overall scheme seeks to install a new modern lock at the site and update existing lock infrastructure.

The most recent option awarded (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 Darin White, Inland Navigation Design Center and New Lock at the Soo technical lead. 

Phase 3 construction started in 2022 and expected to last seven years.

A closer look at USACE’s Soo Locks project

In 2022, KAT signed a base contract of just less than $1.1 billion for Phase 3 of the tri-staged project.

Phase 1 (upstream channel deepening) finished in 2022, and Phase 2, which consists of constructing upstream approach walls, is expected to be finished “this summer,” said USACE.

“To date, Options 1A (upstream wide wall monoliths), 1B (chamber wall monoliths), 1C (new power plant bridge ramp), 2 (new pump well completion) and 7 (alligator’s mouth mooring area) have been awarded, totalling $503.7 million,” confirmed USACE Detroit District Senior Civilian Kevin McDaniels.

In total, the project is valued at more than $3 billion; nearly three-times more than the initial estimate.

Render of future Soo Locks orientation. (Image courtesy USACE Detroit Division)

“The contractor has completed over $400 million worth of work through the end of July 2024,” said Mollie Mahoney, project manager for the programme titled New Lock at the Soo.

“The contractor is demolishing existing concrete monoliths and beginning bedrock excavation in the footprint of the existing Sabin Lock.

“In the Davis Lock they are beginning excavating for the new pump well and preparing to fill the Davis Lock with excavated material. The contractor is also constructing a new bridge to the new Power plant and a new utility access structure.”

The “New Lock” and improved infrastructure for the system will be constructed in the footprint of the decommissioned Sabin and Davis locks and will be the same size as the operational Poe Lock (1,200-ft long, 110-ft wide and 32-ft deep or 366m by 34m by 10m).

USACE said three contract options, totalling $95.3 million, are yet to be awarded.

“These options are Option 4 (downstream work), Option 5 (hands-free mooring), and Option 6 (downstream ship arrestors),” said the USACE, which added it hopes to award them over the next year.

The entire three-phase, billion-dollar build is scheduled to finish in 2030.

What are the Soo Locks?

A ship passes through one of the Soo Locks in Michigan, US. (Image: Adobe Stock)

are a vital transit point in the US-Canada Great Lakes Navigation System that allows ships to travel through a 21-foot (6.4 m) elevation change at the St. Marys Falls Canal on the St. Marys River (a channel between Superior and Michigan Great Lakes), which borders the US and Canada.

The new lock currently under construction – which will be the third operational lock on the US side once completed – does not yet have a name. It’s been in development for more than two decades with initial groundbreaking taking place in 2009. The new lock will replace two underutilised locks, which became obsolete in the last three decades.