Welland Canal (Canada, Lake Ontario-Lake Erie)

The Welland Canal is part of the St Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes Waterway (both are systems of natural channels and artificial canals interconnecting the Great Lakes). Welland Canal was constructed between 1824-29. Its locks allow marine vessels to bypass Niagara Falls. Welland's southern terminus (Lake Erie) is higher (100 m / 326 ft) than the Lake Ontario terminus.

Annually, over 3000 ships pass through the waterway, transporting ~40 million tons of cargo between Great Lakes ports (Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Chicago) and Ontario (Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City) where these cargoes are loaded/offloaded onto/from ocean-going vessels.

The Canal has length 43 km (27 mi) and via a total of 8 locks connects Lake Ontario (north/Port Weller) and Lake Erie (south/Port Colborne). The waterway can be accessed by ships with max LOA length 226 m (740 ft), max width 24 m (78 ft) and max draft 8 m (27 ft). The average time for ships to pass through the waterway's entire length is 10-11 hours.

The Garden City Skyway Bridge (length 2,2 km / 1,4 mi) links St Catharines with Niagara-on-the-Lake and carries the 6-lane QEW highway (Queen Elizabeth Way) across the Welland Canal. The Bridge's clearance restricts the max height of the passing ships to 35,5 m (116 ft). Excepting the Garden City Skyway, all other canal crossings are via tunnels or movable bridges.

Next timelapse video shows the Welland Canal transit of a dry-bulk cargo ship.