As ships near each lock, they line up their approach by angling their bow against the angled sidewall, which acts as a guide to allow them to straighten out to the exact angle for entry into the lock. The locks have a usable width of 80 feet (24.4 metres) allowing vessels up to 78 feet (23.8 metres) beam to enter.
In the main sections of the canal, there is no edge treatment, except the sloping sides of the canal bank itself. In other areas, there are various walls. Approach walls are often used to help guide a ship into a lock. These walls have sacrificial rubber rub rails (or at some places, wooden timber rub rails) running horizontally near the top of the wall, along which the larger ships hulls can make contact ('lean' against) and then glide along as needed, so they can align themselves into the lock opening. In the actual lock chamber itself, though, these is no rubber rail at all, just the concrete walls on either side. The larger ships by that time are pretty much straight into the lock. The large ships use a 'new' system of automatic mooring now, where suction pads are placed against the hull while a ship is in the lock. They latch onto the ship's hull and help keep it straight while the water lowers or raises the ship. Smaller vessels use their own rubber fenders when they are raised or lowered in the locks.
Originally from Niagara Falls NY now live in Florida since retiring from the Navy. When I was growing up use to go all along the Canal with my family. When I first looked at it I thought it was Lock 7 but don't think it is, which one is it?
It's the way the ships align themselves into the lock opening. The ship's bow follows the approach wall (using a typical procedure called the 'wall slide'') and it slides along a sacrificial rubber edging strip which runs along the top edge of the wall. This wall is built at a slight off-angle from the lock opening, in other words, the wall is built NOT parallel to the lock opening. A ship which is approaching the lock entry will keep its bow sliding along the angled wall, and the angled wall will slowly lead the ship's bow right into line with the lock opening. For this procedure to work, as the ship moves forward, the ship's rudder is used to keep ONLY the bow of the ship sliding along the wall, while at the same time, keeping the stern of the ship at an angle AWAY from the wall. This is how the bow gets 'straightened out": as the ship's bow slides along the angled wall, the wall eventually ends, and by that time, the entire ship (because the stern was kept AWAY from the wall) would come into alignment with the lock opening. Hope this helps!!! Note: smaller ships usually do not have to do this procedure; they can usually make their entry straight on.
OMG that ship was dirty and rusty. My father was a captain with CSL. His ship always had the highest paint order of any ship in the fleet. He said, the company paid the deckhands for 8 hours of work a day so if there was no "deck work" they were expected to paint.
To RightinNiagara: thanks for posting the video but .... I disagree with your answer about ships scraping the walls to enter a lock. I went through the Welland Canal many times on a ship and never once did the ship scrap the entrance. The ship in the video is a foreign ship and obviously the captain is not used to the locks. His ship is really beat up looking.
peggyt1243 Hi. Every large ship using the Welland Canal has to use a pilot specially experienced to navigate the Canal. It is not always the same captain who can also be the canal pilot. Smaller vessels can enter the locks directly, but rest assured that it is common practice for large ships to align their approach into the locks by using the piers as a guide.
RightInNiagara Canadian ships (usually with Canadian captains) do not require a pilot. Foreign ships require pilots. I have been through the Welland Canal many times and a pilot never boarded. I never once saw a ship scrap the rocks on the sides of the canal. Think about it. Where do the pilots come from. What qualifications do they have. They hold a licence called Master of Inland Waters, which is a Canadian commercial captains licence. Captains and first officers who hold a "masters ticket" often become pilots so they are not away from home.
peggyt1243 Hi again. As I mentioned previously, not all Captains are canal pilots. The pilots of CSL and Algoma vessels also 'slide the wall' when making their lock approaches - this is not unusual at all. Smaller ships can usually head straight in.
peggyt1243 ...also check out how the pilot of the CSL ST. LAURENT approaches Lock 1, using same 'wall slide' procedure as the STEFANIA: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HlUgsLmuL-k.html
peggyt1243 ...also, here is an Algoma ship, ALGOSOO, making the same approach, angling towards the piers and then straightening out: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_TaWV0hPugU.html
What here shows that this ship had a poor master? The ''wall slide' procedure was carried out in a routine, normal, typical fashion; so, is there some other issue calling into question the master's (or captain's, or pilot's) competence?
Just out of curiosity have you ever worked a ship traversing the Great Lakes Welland Canal? This is a picture perfect approach to the lock. Your comment is blatantly obvious you never have. It is not like driving a car. You dry driving your car into a space one foot wider than your car with thousands of tonnes of water pushing your car back. Don't comment on what you do not know.
This is the normal way to enter any lock in the Canal. The vessel if foreign so it is reqired to engage a Canadian pilot to transit. As all the pilots have been masters on boats I would say all are well qualified . Having done this seveal hundreds of times I would be qualified to comment. Ex laker captain now retired
