A Lock on the Rideau

We live not far from the historic Rideau Canal, a system of 45 locks to allow boats to navigate from higher elevation at Kingston on Lake Ontario to Ottawa or vice versa. The difference in elevation is about 24 metres or 79 feet. Step by step that difference must be overcome. And that's what a lock is really, a step up or down depending on your direction. The Rideau (pronounced REE-dough in English) is a whole bunch of little steps with space between the steps.

The canal was built between 1826 and 1832. It pre-dates the locks on the St. Lawrence, and was built to assist the defence of Canada by allowing boats to travel from Montreal to the Great Lakes without having to travel down the St. Lawrence, in gunshot range of the Americans. It was officially opened in May 1832 and has been operated continuously ever since. http://www.rideau-info.com/canal/rideau-faq.html

It has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site that today is used for recreation.

The nearest lock to us is in Smiths Falls, which is only a half hour drive away. Oddly enough, we had never visited this lock but have visited others which are farther away.

You may remember that we took Danica there on my birthday weekend LINK because she had never seen a lock and it is difficult to comprehend how it works by just describing it. When I wrote that post, I mentioned that I might return to the topic to explain how a lock works, and one or two thought that would be a good idea, for I am sure that some people have never seen one in operation.

So here we go.

A bonus at this lock is that a low bridge on a nearby has to be moved before the lock can be opened.

The boat can then begin to proceed to the lock, which is about where I am standing to take the next photo (but you can't see it from my vantage point).

Now, for the lock itself. I moved back to snap a photo of it opening.

The boat is now in the lock and fastened (moored?) to the side. Although you can't see it in the photo, the gate through which it entered (above) has been closed. Ahead, you can see the gate through which it will exit. You can barely make out that the water level is higher beyond that gate.

With both gates closed, water from the higher section beyond is let into the lock, and the water level in the lock rises until it is at the same level as the section of the river beyond.Compare the above and below photos to see the difference. (The water is let by some sort of valve at the base of the gate, which you can't see in these photos.)

The doors open and the boat motors off.

The sequence would be reversed for a boat going the other way. The boat would enter the lock at high water. Then the lock would be drained down to the lower level.

And so Danica has now seen how a lock works.

I only saw a lock in operation later in life. It was on the Welland Canal between Lake Erie and Ontario, essentially to bypass Niagara Falls. The lock was much bigger as was the huge Great Lakes ship that could barely fit inside, but the principle is exactly the same.

I should also say in passing that there can be quite a distance from one lock to another. I think I will include a map, so you can see that. In fact, I should have put it at the beginning, but I don't feel like rewriting this.