DETROIT – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, announces the MacArthur Lock, located at the Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., is back in service today after experiencing mechanical issues.
The lock was taken out of operation Wednesday, July 29, due to issues with closing the gates, it was then dewatered to determine the path forward for repairs. The staff at the locks completed repairs to correct the issues. The original estimate for the outage was 10 days, but the heavy work and complicated repairs took 20 days.
During this time the Corps notified the shipping industry of the expected delays to navigation as ships traditionally traversing the MacArthur Lock were routed through the Poe Lock.
As of August 17, the Corps calculated 103 ships were delayed a total of 166 hours at the locks solely due to the closure of the MacArthur Lock. Additional delays were experienced by the shipping companies as they slowed down in the system or were holding at dock facilities to minimize the time they waited at the Soo Locks facility.
http://www.lre.usace.army.mil/Media/NewsReleases/tabid/11351/Article/613817/macarthur-lock-back-in-service-after-repairs.aspx
