Saint Lawrence Seaway Facts for Kids

The Saint Lawrence Seaway is a huge water highway in North America. It's about 370 miles (595 kilometers) long and lets big ships travel all the way from the Atlantic Ocean into the Great Lakes. Most of this amazing waterway is in Canada, but a small part is in the United States. It gets its name from the Saint Lawrence River, which flows from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.

Before the Seaway was built, it was impossible for large ships to get past the fast-moving water (called rapids) and dams on the Saint Lawrence River. Also, giant ships couldn't pass Niagara Falls, the famous waterfalls between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. In the early 1900s, both the Canadian and U.S. governments realized that cities near the Great Lakes could grow a lot if ships could reach them easily. This would help the economies of both countries. Even though some people didn't want the Seaway built, the project went ahead.

Building the Seaway
The Seaway Today
Images for kids
See also

Building the Seaway

Construction of the Seaway began in 1954. Workers built a system of canals stretching from Montreal in the east to Port Colborne in the west. The project included 15 special water elevators called locks. These locks help ships move up or down when the water level changes. The Seaway also has places where electricity is made using the power of flowing water. A big part of the project was also making the Welland Canal much bigger so that even the largest ships could use it.

The Seaway Today

The Saint Lawrence Seaway was finished in 1959. It cost about C$470 million (Canadian dollars). Today, thousands of ships use it every year. These range from small recreational boats to huge ocean liners. About 40 to 50 million tons of cargo are moved on these ships. This cargo travels to many parts of the world, including Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The Seaway has been very important for the growth of many cities like Toronto, Hamilton, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Chicago. There are even plans to make the Seaway wider so that container ships as big as those that use the Panama Canal can travel through it!