Great Lakes Shipping, Trade, and Aquatic Invasive Species Special Report 291 (2008) / Chapter Skim
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2 The St. Lawrence Seaway
2 The St. Lawrence Seaway
Pages 17-42
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From page 17... ...
. The MLO section, which opened in 1959, was the last link to be completed in the series of channels and canals allowing deepdraft vessels to move between the Atlantic Ocean and ports on the Great Lakes.
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From page 18... ...
(SOURCE: St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation.)
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From page 19... ...
Lawrence Seaway, from early efforts to develop a transportation route and trade corridor along the St. Lawrence River into the Great Lakes to the culmination of these efforts in the 1959 opening of the modern seaway.
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From page 20... ...
Lawrence waterway continued through a variety of lock and canal construction projects, and in 1895 the governments of the United States and Canada appointed a Deep Waterways Commission to study the feasibility of a seaway. The commission reported in favor of the project (U.S.
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From page 21... ...
Finally, in the early 1950s, the pressing needs for both power generation and improved navigation led to the creation of the seaway.2 In 1951, the Canadian Parliament approved legislation authorizing construction of a Canadian Seaway and associated hydroelectric power generation facilities. The proposed dams in the International Rapids section of the St.
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From page 22... ...
Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) , which operates and maintains the Canadian Seaway infrastructure, while the Canadian government retains ownership of the infrastructure and acts as regulator.
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From page 23... ...
For vessels using the Welland Canal, there is also a lockage charge for each lock transited. Cargo tolls are generally higher for highervalue commodities.
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From page 24... ...
. Thus, after the completion of the MLO section in 1959, vessels capable of carrying 25,000 tons or more of cargo were able to enter the Great Lakes for the first time.6 Over the past 15 years, technological developments and more sophisticated modeling techniques have led to increases in allowable vessel draft and length, thereby enabling vessels to carry more cargo (possibly up to 30,000 tons per voyage)
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From page 25... ...
The MLO section is almost 50 years old, and the eight locks of the Welland Canal date from 1932.9 Thus, in 2003, the governments of Canada and the United States initiated a joint study to evaluate the infrastructure needs of the GLSLS system, including the St. Lawrence Seaway proper and the Soo Locks, which allow transit of vessels between Lake Superior and Lake Huron.
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From page 26... ...
For example, the Port of Montreal, which has extensive rail links to destinations throughout North America, is a major center for transshipment of containerized cargo between ocean vessels and rail. Transshipment does not necessarily require specialized port facilities, however.
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From page 27... ...
(The different categories of vessel transiting the seaway are discussed in Chapter 4.) The cargo tonnage moving through the Welland Canal is generally higher than that moving through the MLO section, as Figure 2-2 illustrates, because of the large amount of interlake traffic carrying relatively low-value bulk commodities (see Chapter 4)
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From page 28... ...
70 60 50 40 MLO Welland Cargo (Mt) 30 20 10 0 59 961 963 965 967 969 971 973 975 977 979 981 983 985 987 989 991 993 995 997 999 001 003 005 19 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 Year FIGURE 2-2 Seaway traffic, 1959–2006.
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From page 29... ...
, a level that appears unlikely to be achieved, given that it is about 4 times the average traffic for the most recent 5-year period. Taylor and Roach do not identify the reasons behind the overly optimistic traffic forecasts other than to note the possible influence of high seaway traffic volumes in the mid-to-late 1970s and errors in forecasting grain tonnages on the MLO section of the seaway.
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From page 30... ...
agricultural policies, technology, and preferential trade agreements;11 a decline in grain exports from Canada and the United States to the former Soviet states following the Soviet Union's collapse; a geographic redistribution of international trading patterns, and in particular the growth of trade with Asia; a comparative decline in real overland transport rates on competing routes; the worldwide shift to containerization; government policies; and a myriad of other forces that are difficult to forecast.12 A recent forecast of future seaway traffic appears more conservative than some of the earlier forecasts examined by Taylor and 11 Grain production in Western Europe has climbed steadily over the past 40 years because of a com bination of new technology, high prices, and income support provided by the EU's Common Agricultural Policy. As a result, the EU has been a grain exporter for more than two decades.
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From page 31... ...
Under the most likely scenario, the average annual growth rate is estimated to be 0.7 percent, with annual tonnage through the MLO section reaching 42 Mt by 2050.13 The forecast methodology is described as quantitative and qualitative econometric analysis, but few details are provided. A possible alternative approach to exploring the future role of the seaway and its importance for the Great Lakes regional economy could consider, perhaps in a scenario form, likely "futures" and their realization in terms of trade and economic interdependence in the region.
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From page 32... ...
on the Great Lakes region's transportation network are influenced by a multitude of economic and political forces at both domestic and international levels. For example, a report prepared for Transport Canada examined seaway competitiveness versus the Mississippi and rail options for the movements of grains (TAF Consultants 2002)
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From page 33... ...
Lawrence Seaway, Phase 1, by Yves Lemieux of Canadian National and Malcolm Cairns of Canadian Pacific Railway in Montreal, Quebec, on September 28, 2004. system for moving Canadian grain was found to depend on multiple factors, including world grain demand, Canadian grain supply, the available capacity of the western Canadian seaboard outlet,14 and the ability of the seaway to compete with alternative transportation systems in terms of total transportation costs and charges.
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From page 34... ...
Much of Canada's increasing trade with Asia is bypassing the seaway via railroads that link interior Canadian regions and west coast ports. Finally, selected regions in Canada may find it feasible to access international markets through U.S.
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From page 35... ...
Changes in global climate and in world maritime trade could affect both the numbers and the types of vessels using the seaway in the future and could, therefore, affect efforts to enhance the Great Lakes region's potential for global trade and to eliminate further AIS introductions by vessels transiting the seaway. Global Climate Change15 A number of studies completed over the past 20 years have investigated the anticipated effects on the hydrology and lake levels of the GLSLS system as a result of climate change associated with increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
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From page 36... ...
As a result of milder winters, however, there has been a gradual increase in the length of the seaway navigation season since the 1980s. Hence, for the 5 years from 1982 to 1986, the average open period for the MLO section was 269 days.
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From page 37... ...
And in 2006, the MLO section was open for a record 283 days. The reduced ice cover associated with climate change may offer the possibility of further extending the seaway navigation season, although there are no current plans to do so.
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From page 38... ...
Changes in World Maritime Trade As already discussed, steps have been taken to maximize the amounts of cargo carried by vessels transiting the seaway by increasing the allowable vessel draft and length. Nonetheless, an analysis conducted in 2001 showed that, while 70 percent of vessels in the world fleet can be accommodated by the seaway locks, these seaway-size vessels represent only 13 percent of world vessel capacity (USACE 2002)
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From page 39... ...
New waterborne feeder services throughout the GLSLS system could serve the existing containerport in Halifax, Nova Scotia, or a possible new hub port for container transshipment in Sydney, Nova Scotia. It has been suggested, for example, that ships built for the purpose could move containers to the Lake Ontario port of Hamilton, where they would be distributed throughout the Great Lakes basin.16 Questions remain about the effects of relatively long transit times and seasonal closure on the demand for container shipping on the GLSLS system (see Chapter 5)
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From page 40... ...
On the other hand, the seaway offers an alternative to increasingly congested landbased routes, particularly for cargo movements where the relatively long transit times and seasonality of the navigation season can be accommodated. Furthermore, the growth of hub ports for container shipping on North America's eastern seaboard may provide opportunities to develop feeder services into the Great Lakes through the seaway.
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From page 41... ...
St. Lawrence Seaway Asset Renewal Program Capital Investment Plan FY 2009–2013.
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From page 42... ...
1897. Report of the United States Deep Waterways Commission.
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