Detroit Engineer District

Soo Locks to open early for 2025 shipping season

The Detroit Engineer District will open the Poe Lock, part of the Soo Locks, in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., early to all marine traffic at 8 a.m. on March 21, marking the start of the 2025 Great Lakes shipping season.

The shipping industry requested an early season opening based on the understanding that “the 2025 winter lock maintenance will be completed by this date and an early opening will not impact U.S. Army Corps operations this season,” said Lake Carriers’ Association President James...

https://www.marinelog.com/inland-coastal/inland/soo-locks-to-open-early-for-2025-shipping-season/

Soo Locks closing for seasonal repair and maintenance

The Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., will close to all marine traffic beginning just before midnight tonight or until commercial traffic ceases, through 12:01 a.m. on March 25 to perform seasonal critical maintenance.

Federal regulation (33 CFR 207.440) establishes the operating season based on the feasibility of vessels operating during typical Great Lakes ice conditions.

“Every year, the Corps of Engineers uses the non-navigation winter period to perform maintenance and keep the Soo Locks...

https://www.marinelog.com/inland-coastal/inland/soo-locks-closing-for-seasonal-repair-and-maintenance/

Corps begins dredging St. Joseph Harbor

The Detroit Engineer District will begin dredging 29,500 cubic yards of shoaling near the entrance to St. Joseph Harbor this week and conclude in late August.  

The Corps maintains about 1.5 miles of federal navigation channel to a depth of up to 21 feet in the harbor entrance and river channel, as well as 18 feet in the turning basin. About 40,000 cubic yards of shoaling have been removed annually from the mouth of the St. Joseph River, which allows access for the U.S. Coast Guard and larger...

https://www.marinelog.com/inland-coastal/inland/corps-begins-dredging-st-joseph-harbor/

USACE awards $1.06 billion New Lock at the Soo contract

The Detroit Engineer District has awarded Kokosing Alberici Traylor LLC (KAT), a joint venture headquartered in Westerville, Ohio, a $1,068,052,150 contract to construct the lock chamber of the New Soo Lock at Sault Sainte Marie, Mich.

The Detroit District says that the contract allows KAT to start constructing the largest phase of the project, the new lock chamber and rehabilitation of the downstream approach walls. With continued funding, the remaining work, valued at $803.95 million may be...

https://www.marinelog.com/inland-coastal/inland/usace-awards-1-06-billion-new-lock-at-the-soo-contract/