SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s newly released budget calls for spending $75.3 million toward construction of a new Great Lakes shipping lock in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
The Soo Locks on the St. Marys River raise and lower vessels between Lakes Superior and Huron. Only one lock is large enough to accommodate the biggest freighters that haul iron ore and other bulk cargo.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is proposing a second full-size lock for the complex at Sault Ste. Marie. It would cost about $1 billion.
Officials say the proposed 2020 funding would pay to begin construction of upstream approach walls, continue design of the lock chamber and finish upstream channel deepening.
Lt. Col. Greg Turner says it would keep the project on track for completion in seven to 10 years.
