1. THE LOCKPORT DAM

2. Why Was It Built?
The Lister Rapids were a group of very dangerous water rapids between the city of Winnipeg and Lake Winnipeg.
Although the rapids were very beautiful, they blocked water traffic from Northern to Southern Manitoba.
There was a 15 foot drop over a 10 mile distance.
Nothing larger than a canoe could cross the rapids.

3. Why Was It Built?
People in Northern Manitoba had a lot of lumber and fish to trade. Moving them on the road cost a lot of money.
People wanted to ship their supplies on steamships. They decided that they had to find a way for a steamship to cross the rapids.

4. Choosing the Perfect Spot
In the late 1800’s, surveyors were sent to choose the best spot to work on.
They needed to choose whether they were going to blast a channel through the rapids, or build a dam.

5. They decided to build a dam three miles north of the St. Andrews Rapids. This place is now called Lockport.
At this spot they could control the water levels of the rapids, allowing boats to move across.
In 1899 they thought it would only cost $150,000.

6. Why Here? Lockport was chosen for two special reasons:
There was a long bend in the river here. This made it possible to cut a channel through the land. This way ships could pass beside the dam.
There was also a higher ground level here. This meant they didn’t have to go far underwater to build its base.

7. Choosing the Perfect Type
They decided to build a special type of dam.
This only other place this style was found was in France.
It was a movable dam, which could raise its floodgates to let water pass.
Why This Type?
If the structure didn’t move it would cause an ice jam in the spring and would cause flooding. A movable dam could open its gates and let the ice through.
The water on Lake Winnipeg was not at a steady level. This dam could help control the water level by stopping water.

8. The Camere Design This design was called the Camere design.
The Camere design was built from concrete, stones and bricks.
The final structure would be 21 feet high.
This raised the water level nine feet high on the southern side of the dam which was high enough for boats to travel on.

9. Getting Started Construction began in January 1900.
Men started taking away boulders and cutting an 8 foot wide opening across the river through the ice.
Mr. A. St. Laurent and Mr. H. Vautelet were the design engineers on the project.
Most of the workers were men with picks, shovels and wheelbarrows, and horse teams drawing scrapers, dump wagons, and slushers.
Workers were only paid 15 cents an hour for unskilled workers, 25 cents for skilled, and $2.50 per horse team for a 12 hour day.

10. Construction
The first dirt was dug up for the dam on Monday October 8, 1900.
It was really hard work. A lot of workers caught typhoid fever died. A lot of workers also drowned in the unusually high water.
The lock for the boats to go in was 200 feet long and was 45 feet wide.
The locks could move boats as large as 1600 tons and could lift a boat 21 feet.

11. Costs
They used 55,000 cu. yards of concrete and about 6,500,000 pounds of steel.
When everything was finished it cost 3.5 million dollars.

12. Officially Opening the Locks
It took ten years to build the dam.
Sir Wilfred Laurier officially declared the Locks open on July 14, 1910.
The steamship Winnitoba was the first boat to pass throught the locks. There were 3000 people on the boat, and even more people were watching from the river bank.
Winnitoba

13. Additions
By 1913, a bridge deck was built so people and cars could move across.
A bascule lift, or drawbridge, was built later to let tall ships to pass through.

14. The Locks Today
After a few years, not as many people were trading goods from Northern Manitoba. It was also cheaper to move stuff by railway.
People didn’t use the locks as much.
The locks are still used today for passenger boats.

15. - “preserving our community’s heritage one story at a time” –
This presentation brought to you by the St. Clements Heritage Advisory Committee!
- “preserving our community’s heritage one story at a time” –
Information Compiled/Presentation Created by Jared Laberge
Bibliography
St. Clements Historical Committee. East Side Of The Red. Winnipeg: Inter-Collegiate Press, 1984.
The End