The Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie officially closed for seasonal repairs early Thursday morning, marking the end of the Great Lakes navigation season.
According to recent reports, the Marine Traffic App says the American Mariner made it through the locks a little after 4 a.m. Thursday.
"I believe they [American Mariner] have grain and they're on their way to Buffalo," said Jeff Harrington, who is the Soo project office operations branch chief at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The end of the season will give engineers time to make crucial upgrades and repairs to one of the state’s most important pieces of infrastructure.
“The Soo Project team is well versed in planning and executing complex maintenance and repairs. The cold climate and physical site constraints add an intensity that requires strategic logistical planning and controls to ensure safety and success,” Soo Locks Operations Manager LeighAnn Ryckeghem said in a news release.
The Soo Locks allow for vessels to travel from Lake Superior to the lower Great Lakes.
Changes will include, among others, repairing electrical, hydraulic and mechanical systems, removing led paint and installing a new temporary panel bridge across the Poe Lock to help with moving materials to the job sites.
Engineers will also replace some anchorage components on the Poe Lock.
“And some of these components are actually original to the time of the lock commissioning back in 1969,” Harrington said.
Harrington also said over 8,500 went through the locks this shipping season.
Ice cover for the Great Lakes on Jan. 15 was 11.1%, this highest level in three years on the final day of the shipping season, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
