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The Soo Locks (sometimes spelled Sault Locks, but pronounced "soo") are a set of parallel locks which enable ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. They are located on the St. Marys River between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, between the Upper Peninsula of the US state of Michigan and the Canadian province of Ontario. They bypass the rapids of the river, where the water falls 21 feet (7 m). The locks pass an average of 10,000 ships per year,〔(【引用サイトリンク】 accessdate = 2008-10-22 )〕 despite being closed during the winter from January through March, when ice shuts down shipping on the Great Lakes. The winter closure period is used to inspect and maintain the locks. The locks share a name (usually shortened and anglicized as ''Soo'') with the two cities named Sault Ste. Marie, in Ontario and in Michigan, located on either side of the St. Marys River. The Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge between the United States and Canada permits vehicular traffic to pass over the locks. A railroad bridge crosses the St. Marys River just upstream of the highway bridge. ==United States locks== The U.S. locks form part of a canal formally named the St. Marys Falls Canal. The entire canal, including the locks, is owned and maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, which provides free passage. The first iteration of the U.S. Soo Locks was completed in May 1855; it was operated by the State of Michigan until transferred to the U.S. Army in 1881. The current configuration consists of four parallel lock chambers, each running east to west; starting at the Michigan shoreline and moving north toward Ontario, these are: *The MacArthur Lock, built in 1943. It is long, wide, and deep. This is large enough to handle ocean-going vessels ("salties") that must also pass through the smaller locks in the Welland Canal. The first vessel through was the ''SS Carl D. Bradley.'' *The Poe Lock was originally completed on August 3, 1895. The first ship to pass through was the passenger ship ''Majestic'' in September 1895. The original Poe Lock was engineered by Orlando Poe and, at long and wide, was the largest in the world when completed in 1896.〔(Seeing The Light - Orlando Metcalfe Poe ). Terrypepper.com (2000-05-30). Retrieved on 2012-04-10.〕 The lock was re-built in 1968 to accommodate larger ships, after the Saint Lawrence Seaway opened. It is now long, wide, and deep.〔 It can take ships carrying of cargo. The Poe is the only lock that can handle the large lake freighters used on the upper lakes. The first passage after the rebuild was by the ''Phillip R. Clarke'' in 1969.〔 *The Davis Lock, built in 1914. It is long, wide, and deep.〔 This lock is used less frequently (only 5 commercial/private and 34 government vessel passages, on 14 days in October 2008) to lock light freighters, tour boats, and small craft when traffic warrants. The ''SS James A Farrell'' was the first vessel to lock through. *The Sabin Lock, built in 1919. It is long, wide, and deep.〔 This lock has been placed in caretaker status and is no longer used. To get the Sabin lock up and running again would cost roughly 5 million dollars.
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