Welland Canal
Topic: World Transport and Communication · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 7 "Transport and Communication"
Meaning
The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Canada. It joins Lake Erie with Lake Ontario. Between the two lakes is the big drop at Niagara Falls, which no ship can cross. The canal uses a chain of locks, which are closed sections where the water is raised or lowered, to take ships up and down this drop. It first opened in 1829 and is part of the Great Lakes-St Lawrence Seaway.
Example
A cargo ship going from Buffalo on Lake Erie towards the St Lawrence river and the Atlantic is lowered step by step through the Welland locks into Lake Ontario. This takes it safely around Niagara Falls.
Don't confuse with
- Soo Canal: it joins Lake Superior and Lake Huron at Sault Ste Marie. The Welland joins Erie and Ontario.
Related concepts
- Rhine waterway
- Ruhr industrial region
- Danube waterway
- Volga waterway
- Volga-Don Canal
- Great Lakes-St Lawrence Seaway
- Soo Canal
- Mississippi-Ohio waterway