Canal Locks Second To Panama
Additional Details:
Series 62961 The Canal is about eight miles long from Puget Sound to Lake Washington. It adds more than ninety miles to Seattle's water frontage and gives access for ocean shipping to the non-tidal fresh water harbors of Lake Union, in the heart of the City and Lake Washington, twenty-five miles long and four wide, on the east boundary of Seattle. The right-of-way is 300 feet wide, the channel 100 feet wide, and the depth 36 feet. The locks are capable of lifting larger vessels than any government locks outside the Panama Canal. They are at the Puget Sound entrance of the canal and form the only barrier between the fresh water lakes, nine feet above Puget Sound at high tide, and salt water. The concrete walls are 55 feet high. 50 feet wide at the base and 8 feet at the top. The major chamber is 825 feet long, 80 feet wide, and holds a depth of 50 feet of water. The minor chamber is 150 feet long and 30 feet wide. Ocean-going craft go through the larger chamber in twenty minutes and small craft through the smaller chamber in five to ten minutes. The total cost of the canal, including right-of-way, excavation, locks and other features, was $5,000,000 borne by the government, state, county and city. Opening of the Lake Washington Canal at Seattle Wednesday. July Fourth, Nineteen Hundred Seventeen |