Engineer's Day - 2013

So the moment I've been waiting for, Engineer's Day at the Soo Locks.  Next year I will make it a point to get a hotel in the Soo so that I don't have the commute and I can just stay around the Locks.  I might have stayed longer if I had that.  But oh well, it was still pretty fun.

 I think this is a boat used by the Transportation National Guard group out of Sault Ste Marie.  They use it with a pontoon bridge (more on that later).  There were a few other things wandering around.

 Scooby Doo reminds you to wear your life jacket.

 They had this guy on a cart.  If I remember correctly, he can actually sort of carry on a conversation.

 The tug Zeus pushing a barge out of the Poe Lock.  If I had gotten here a little sooner, I could have seen her coming into the lock.

 One of the nice things about Engineer's Day is that you get to see parts of the Locks that are otherwise unaccessible by the public.  This is the welcome mat into the Administration Building.

 The main hallway for the Administration building.

 Zeus leaving the Poe Lock.  The Lee A. Tregurtha had just passed through a little earlier.  She was tied up due to fog on the St. Mary's River.

 A shot of the Adminstration Building.  I think there were more people at Engineer's Day than last year.

 Another shot of the Adminstration Building.

 On the other side of the Poe Lock is another building.  Part of it is the Post Office.  If you look at the labels, you will see the names of different ships.

 A comparison of the fuel consumption of different methods of transportation.  Shipping is by far the most efficient means of transportation but unfortunately it doesn't go everywhere.  Rail is a pretty close second.

 A comparison of the different cargo capacities.

 The record cargos that have gone through the Soo Locks.  For the most part, the thousand footers are the champs.

 Examples of different cargos that pass through the Locks.

 The Hydroelectric Plant was also open for Engineer's Day.  One of the people is giving a safety demonstration.

 This is a demonstration of what happens if there is a pinhole in a glove.  Sadly, I couldn't get the spark coming out from the line.

 And the cooked hot dog.  I think it is more cooked on the inside though.

 The Hydro Plant also houses a fishery for Lake Superior State University.  These are little salmon.

 A pair of sea lampreys.  They have been making some headway on getting rid of them.

 A group of generators.

 One of the bucket trucks for the electric company.

 A shot of the St. Mary's Church.  I couldn't think of another place to put this picture.

 A shot from the front.

 Now here's something you don't see every day.  This is the bridge section I was telling you about earlier in the post.  It is carrying an M-113 Armored Personnel Carrier.

 It slowly works its way down the St. Mary's River.

 I tried to get a closer shot of the M-113.

 And then it goes out of view.  I'd have to say this was pretty cool to watch.

It was a pretty busy day at the locks.