SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — Thanks to the federal government’s $650 million cash infusion, an essential, long overdue third lock at Sault Ste. Marie’s Soo Locks is now on track to be finished and operating by 2030. The new lock, first proposed in 1987, is the first update to the critical shipping passage in 60 years.
“In Michigan, we know how vital the Locks are to our economy and our national defense. We also know that we are on borrowed time until something happens that shuts them down,” said U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow when the funding was announced.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law championed by President Biden provided $479 million for the construction project and another $214 million came from the 2022 follow-up package.
The new lock is the first major upgrade to the nation’s busiest locks since the Poe Lock opened in 1968. Today, only the 56-year-old Poe Lock is large enough to handle the large freighters that carry 88 percent of the cargo currently passing through. At 81 years old, the MacArthur Lock is only used for smaller cargo ships and other watercraft.
The new lock will be the same size as the larger Poe Lock and is meant to be used interchangeably to reduce a long-standing bottleneck in this critical shipping route.
Set on the St Marys River, the Soo Locks provide safe passage between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence Seaway and international waters.
WHY IT MATTERS
About 10,000 ships pass through the Soo Locks each year delivering iron ore, grain and other staples to ports across the Lower Lakes. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates the locks, moving cargo via Soo Locks costs $3.9 billion less than shipping it by train or truck. For heavier materials, it can be the only cost-effective way to deliver them to manufacturers.
For the steel industry, the Soo Locks are vital. With 95 percent of the nation’s iron ore moved from Minnesota through the shipping lane to 13 of the nation’s 14 integrated steel mills, the Soo Locks are the linchpin in the nation’s manufacturing supply chain.
A 2015 Department of Homeland Security study warned that a six-month closure of Poe Lock would disrupt the national supply chain, resulting in the loss of 11 million jobs and a $1.1 trillion cut to the U.S. GDP. Over the last ten years, the Poe Lock has been shut down for repairs 20 times – nine times in the last four years – making construction of a second large lock a race against time.
WHAT COMES NEXT
Plans for the new, larger lock were first approved in 1987. However, delays in funding slowed construction for decades. The $650 million in federal funds keeps the project on track for a 2030 completion.
The second of three phases of construction will finish this summer and phase three has already begun. About 250 construction workers now work on the project. As phase three ramps up, the number of construction jobs is expected to double to 500 in 2025.
When the Corps received $479 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, officials were told the project was fully funded. However, as the Corps began reviewing its planned design changes and bids to complete the construction, it realized overall costs would be higher. Congress has already approved the larger price tag, and another $235 million in federal funding was approved last summer.
