New Soo Lock Project Receives $32 Million

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, announced that the New Soo Lock project in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., will receive $32,388,000 in the fiscal year 2019 work plan. The funds appropriated to the New Soo Lock project will be used to initiate deepening of the upstream approach channel. The funds are sufficient to complete design and allow construction of the upstream channel deepening to begin. Efforts toward deepening the upstream approach channel are the next big step in construction of the new lock.

“Appropriating funds for the New Soo Lock project in this year’s work plan demonstrates the federal government’s commitment to providing resiliency in the Great Lakes Navigation System,” said Lt. Col. Greg Turner, district engineer. “It is fantastic news for the Great Lakes and our nation.”

The next opportunity for funding to complete construction of the upstream channel deepening and continue the design of the upstream approach walls and new lock chamber is the 2020 President’s Budget.

Contingent on efficient funding, the New Soo Lock project, estimated to cost nearly $1 billion, could be completed in as few as seven years. For more information about the New Soo Lock project, visit lre.usace.army.mil/About/Highlighted-Projects/New_Soo_Lock.