Great lake boats, a good video

[ArlyA]

In the late 1800s, you really dressed to the nines when it was time to inspect culverts. This photo of the original Poe Lock was captured in 1894, two years before completion. Note the ties used.

 

[ArlyA]

Tug Helen H with barges seen near Duluth MN

 

[ArlyA]

Another of tug Helen H arriving back to Duluth towing a construction barge and work boat from some project along north shore. Duluth, MN - August 8, 2025

 

[ArlyA]

James Barker arriving to load ore at CN as the Blues Festival gets underway. Duluth, MN - August 8, 2025

 

[ArlyA]

On Friday the cutter Spar passed through Houghton canal. No idea why.

 

[ArlyA]

More Corps notes
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Whether it is around an obstruction, through dams, or even bedrock, water finds a way. In August 1913 crews worked on sealing up leaks in the bedrock during excavation of the upstream end of the northernmost approach canal. Crews cleaned and sealed the leaking areas probably using a cement-based product like grout, directing the leaking water through a pipe to prevent erosion of the rock and to better manage the incoming water.
The New Lock project included a significant amount of preparatory work to keep groundwater away from the construction site. Contractors installed a grout curtain in a semi-circle around the site to help block the water from leaking into the work area. It isn’t completely watertight, so the groundwater that does seep through is managed using grading and pumps to keep work areas dry enough for construction.

 

[ArlyA]

During the week in Duluth in 1906, the steamer Troy rammed the Interstate Bridge which stretched between Duluth’s Rice’s Point and Superior’s Connor’s Point at a spot known as “The Gate”—at roughly 1,100 feet, it was the shortest distance between the two cities. The 1897 swing-arm bridge consisted of three spans, with its 491 foot-long swing span—one of the largest ever built—sitting between two 301-foot stationary spans. The bridge had two deck levels. The upper level held two train tracks suitable for passenger and freight trains, while the lower level— used by horse teams, wagons, bicycles, and pedestrians—included a pair of streetcar lanes, one on either side of the deck. Two other railroad bridges connected the Twin Ports, but the Interstate was the only bridge for streetcars, wagons, pedestrians, and automobiles. At one a.m. on August 11, Captain Robert Murray was navigating the 398-foot, 3,665-ton Troy between the Duluth Ship Canal and the Interstate bridge. He had had blown the signal on the ship’s whistle to notify bridge operators to swing the center span open, but claimed he could not see the bridge well because of the structure’s lighting, which he said “kind of blinds one at night.” He explained to reporters that instead of slowing or stopping, as was required when the bridge failed to open, he didn’t worry that the bridge wasn’t immediately opening for the Troy, claiming “That seems to always be the custom of the bridge.” The troy drove straight into the swing span, knocking a 200-foot piece of steel into the bay and buckling the northern span, which collapsed. The collision did more injury to Murray’s reputation than it did to the Troy, but the bridge was significantly damaged. Worse, it blocked all traffic in the bay and trapped thirty-three ships inside the upper harbor. Clearing the channel took almost a week, costing each trapped vessel’s operators about $1,000 a day (about $35,000 today). Traffic between Duluth and Superior was severely hampered as engineers spent nearly two years restoring the bridge. Adapted from “Twin Ports Trains: The Historic Railroads of Duluth & Superior”

 

[ArlyA]

Here are locale boat pics for you guys
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165’ Ranger III, U.S. National Park Service ferry. This ferry runs between Houghton, Michigan and Isle Royale National Park, on Lake Superior, delivering passengers, staff and supplies for the island. She was built in 1958 by Christy Corp, in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.

 

[ArlyA]

Photographer says.
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An eerie picture I took around midnight. I’m sure this has been posted many times but what’s the story on this dock structure in Duluth MN, Canal Park

 

[masseyrider]

More Corps notes
--------------------------------------
Whether it is around an obstruction, through dams, or even bedrock, water finds a way. In August 1913 crews worked on sealing up leaks in the bedrock during excavation of the upstream end of the northernmost approach canal. Crews cleaned and sealed the leaking areas probably using a cement-based product like grout, directing the leaking water through a pipe to prevent erosion of the rock and to better manage the incoming water.
The New Lock project included a significant amount of preparatory work to keep groundwater away from the construction site. Contractors installed a grout curtain in a semi-circle around the site to help block the water from leaking into the work area. It isn’t completely watertight, so the groundwater that does seep through is managed using grading and pumps to keep work areas dry enough for construction.View attachment 3916650View attachment 3916649

Pa worked for Ontario Hydro in the 50s with a cement crew.
They were working up stream of the Kanuckistan Niagara Falls prepping the river bottom for construction of what looks like a partial bridge to the Mexerican side. It has gates that divert water to the holding dam for power production.
They were drilling holes in the river bottom and then pumping them full of cement to stabilize the rock base and stop the water undermining the project.
When the cement was pumped it had to reach a certain PSI before they could move to the next one.
One day they were pumping and pumping. Couldn't get anywhere near the required pressure.
Then they got a message to immediately stop pumping.
The cement had gone through fissures and cracks under the Niagara River and was coming up in a neighborhood on the Mexerican side almost half a mile from the river.