The Beauharnois Canal is located in southwestern

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. The

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

is part of the

Saint Lawrence Seaway 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 Americ ...

. Located in Beauharnois-Salaberry Regional County Municipality within the cities of

Salaberry-de-Valleyfield Salaberry-de-Valleyfield is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada, in the Regional County Municipality of Beauharnois-Salaberry. The population as of 2019 was 42,410. Situated on Grande-Île, an island in the Saint Lawrence River, it is bordere ...

, Beauharnois, Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague, and Saint-Stanislas-de-Kostka, the canal connects Lake Saint-Francis to the west (upstream) with

Lake Saint-Louis Lake Saint-Louis is a lake in southwestern Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers. The Saint Lawrence Seaway passes through the lake. Lake St. Louis is a widening of the St. Lawrence River in the Hochelaga Arch ...

to the northeast (downstream), bypassing a series of rapids on the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...

History

The original Beauharnois Canal opened in 1843, and measured in length and was built on the south side of the St. Lawrence River. It replaced the

Coteau-du-Lac canal Coteau-du-Lac Canal is an 18th-century military canal in Canada located at the junction of the Delisle and Saint Lawrence Rivers in Quebec. The canal was the first work of its kind in North America, and is a National Historic Site of Canada, which ...

. The canal became obsolete and was superseded by the Soulanges Canal in 1899 which ran on the north side of the St. Lawrence River. The present Beauharnois Canal was built between 1929-1932 on the south side of the St. Lawrence River, measuring or Port of Valleyfield
/ref> in length, with a minimum depth of and width of . This canal was built as part of a

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

development at Beauharnois which saw a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

and power house built to take advantage of the drop between Lake St. Francis and Lake St. Louis. Some of the electricity is used to power a large

aluminum smelter Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

in Beauharnois. In the 1950s, the Beauharnois Canal had 2

locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

added as part of the

project, which were inaugurated in 1959. This in turn superseded the Soulanges Canal. The locks enable ships up to 27,000 tons to travel between the two lakes.

Bridges

Bridges over the canal in downstream order are: * - carrying Routes 132 and 201, and the railway tracks of

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

, connecting Salaberry-de-Valleyfield with Saint-Stanislas-de-Kostka * St. Louis Bridge - connecting Salaberry-de-Valleyfield with Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague * - carrying Autoroute 30 * Pied-du-Canal or CSX Bridge - railroad bridge * Boulevard Edgar Hébert Bridge - carrying Route 132 between Melocheville and Beauharnois (this crossing consists of a suspension bridge over the discharge of the Beauharnois Power Station and a tunnel under the locks of Beauharnois Canal)

References

External links

* {{Coord, 45, 16, 19.1, N, 73, 56, 42.7, W, scale:250000, display=title Canals in Quebec Saint Lawrence Seaway Transport in Montérégie Buildings and structures in Montérégie Canals opened in 1843 1843 establishments in Canada Beauharnois-Salaberry Regional County Municipality