"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction of the Lake Washington Ship Canal and Hiram M. Chittenden Locks in 1911. They were dedicated on July 4, 1917. The 30-foot-deep canal connects Puget Sound on the west with Lake Washington eight miles to the east. A dam, gated spillway, fish ladder, gardens, visitors’ center and two navigation locks are located 1.5 miles east of the entrance on Puget Sound. The locks and canal materially contribute to the industrial, municipal, commercial, environmental and recreational development of the area while serving multiple functions: (1) Controlling the elevation of Lake Washington within a narrow range allows for east-west highway traffic across two floating bridges, Interstate 90 and Washington State Highway 520, which are key to commerce for Ports of Seattle and Tacoma. (2) This is the busiest navigation lock in the nation. The Alaska fishing fleet is home ported in Lake Union. The canal and locks provide a navigation link from freshwater Lake Washington and Lake Union to saltwater Puget Sound. (3) The fish ladder and locks are the only connection for salmon moving from Puget Sound to freshwater Lake Washington and its 607-square-mile watershed. (4) The Locks is a popular destination in Seattle and receives more than 1 million visitors per year." Once again, we have a major civil engineering project over 100 years old that has become a funding issue. In this case, a loss of pool would not only jeopardize a lot of commercial boating, but a $10b floating bridge infrastructure. (I-90 is one of those floating bridges.) [USACE-canal]
Canal bridges that I have documented so far are:
Look at the number of pleasure, and maybe fishing, boats queued up in both directions to use the small lock. Maybe they should do a batch or two of boats through the big lock.
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It looks like they do sometimes put a batch of boats through the large lock.
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The BNSF/GN Ballard Bridge is in the background.
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| BallardLocks, the map is interactive on the web site. |
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| MyBallard Once in the lock, the water level drops as much as 26 feet to bring the boats even with Puget Sound. The fresh water is exchanged with salt water. Ten to fifteen minutes after the process began, the boats are on their way. During busy times, though, long lines of boats form on either side of the locks. |
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| MyBallard A viewing area allows visitors to watch one of the last “weirs” before the spawning fish head into freshwater. The best time to see large, spawning king salmon is in mid to late-August. For coho salmon, late September. For sockeye, the month of July. And for steelhead, late February through March. |
This aerial caught the dam spilling quite a bit of water. Since there is no hydropower plant here and there is a lot of rain in the Seattle area, the only priority for this dam is maintaining the correct water level for Lake Washington. The locks and dam also prevent saltwater intrusion.
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| USACE-lock "The complex includes two locks, a small (30 x 150 ft, 8.5 x 45.7 meter) and a large (80 x 825, 24.4 x 251.5 meter). The complex also includes a (235-foot, 71.6 meter) spillway with six (32 x 12-foot (3.7 m), 9.8 x 3.7 meter) gates to assist in water-level control. A fish ladder is integrated into the locks for migration of anadromous fish, notably salmon. The grounds feature a visitors center, as well as the Carl S. English, Jr. Botanical Gardens." This web site has several videos including a Fisherman's Terminal video (satellite) where much of the Alaskan fishing fleet spends its offseason. |
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| Bill Edgar posted I realize this photo is of the same bridge I posted (and photographed) yesterday...the Salmon Bay rail bridge, but I thought those who do not live in the area might be interested in the location WRT Seattle and what the area looks like where the bridge crosses the ship canal. The open waters of Puget Sound are to the right (west in the photo). This view is looking south from a pontoon plane I was on for a flight to Victoria, BC a few years ago. Dennis DeBruler: And that is a nice view of the Ballard Locks. |
5 of 10 photos posted by Fort Loudoun Lock with the comment: "Some rare pics taken today by one of our staff members touring the currently dewatered Hiram M. Chittenden main lock chamber, smaller auxiliary chamber and moveable tainter gate dam in Seattle, WA. Good stuff!!"
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USACE, Seattle District posted three photos with the comment:
What do the Alaska Highway and one of the nation's most visited locks have in common? Us!For this #ThrowbackThursday, we're gearing up to celebrate Seattle District's 130th birthday on May 1.Since 1896, Seattle District has done everything from constructing early Puget Sound defense forts to supporting World War II operations. Today, we manage a massive footprint covering 99,000 square miles and 4,700 miles of shoreline.Every day is an opportunity to add to that legacy and celebrate the dedicated civil servants delivering infrastructure and engineering solutions to better our communities and nation.📷 (Top) Original Construction of the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks - Ballard Locks in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood.📷 (Bottom left) Army Corps of Engineers Lt. Col. James B. Cavanaugh and assistants, at the Chittenden/Ballard Locks, Feb. 2, 1916📷 (Bottom right) A stretch of the Alcan Highway connecting Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, with Fairbanks, Alaska, ca. 1942. (Source: Library of Congress)
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| History Vault Archives posted The former USS White Sands (ARD-20) underwent an unusual transfer when the ship had to be floated at an angle to pass through the Ballard Locks in Seattle, Washington, heading toward Lake Union. The width of the lock gates, which was too narrow for the ship to pass through in its normal position, made this transfer a unique challenge. The ship, which previously served as a floating repair dock for the United States Navy, had to navigate the waterway with precise positioning so that its hull could pass through the limited space between the lock walls. The sight became a unique documentation in Seattle's maritime history because it showcased an unusual way to move a large floating facility. Tom Wong: As a photographer for the Army Corps of Engineers, I was assigned to take photographs of this event. I think these are my photos. I don’t remember exactly, but it was around 1975. Scott J Rossiter: it's at Lake Union Dry Dock shipyard. Janey Anderson shared with the comment: I love stories like this! Not something you see every day! Thanks Garry Priddle 😀 |
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| Johnnie Quinn commented on the above post My father worked there, the vessel was 82ft wide, the lock is 80. They planned this for a year to get a very high tide. |
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| Daniel Massey commented on Janey's share Lake union drydock in Seattle has her now. Chopped the bow off and used as one of the dry docks on the facility. |
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