Spending Bill Launches Seaway Plan

The U.S. side of the locking system that opens the Great Lakes to Atlantic Ocean trade will begin a 10-year infrastructure upgrade, thanks to the giant spending bill Congress gave President Obama to complete the government’s current budget year.

That omnibus bill included $17 million for an “asset renewal program” at the Department of Transportation’s Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp., enough to get 17 projects going. DOT said much of that will go into the area around the two U.S. locks at Massena, N.Y.

The United States and Canada share operation and maintenance of the Seaway, and parts of it are in each country. DOT said its new funding “will complement the asset renewal work already underway on the Canadian portion.”

None of the projects, DOT said, will expand U.S. lock sizes or add to authorized depth or width of the navigation channel.

Still, “after 50 years of continuous use, the U.S. Seaway infrastructure needs significant capital investment,” said agency Administrator Collister Johnson Jr.

The program is designed to supply maintenance dredging, invest in new technologies, buy some equipment and refurbishing facilities.

For a copy of the program, click here.

Contact John D. Boyd at jboyd@joc.com.