1.
Beam (nautical)
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The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point as measured at the ships nominal waterline. The beam is a bearing projected at right-angles from the fore and aft line, Beam may also be used to define the maximum width of a ships hull, or maximum width plus superstructure overhangs. Typical length-to-beam ratios for small sailboats are from 2,1 to 5,1, large ships have widely varying beam ratios, some as large as 20,1. Rowing shells designed for racing may have length to beam ratios as high as 30,1. The beam of many vessels can be calculated using the following formula. Some examples, For a standard 27 ft yacht, the root of 27 is 3,3 squared is 9 plus 1 =10. The beam of many 27 ft monohulls is 10 ft, for a Volvo Open 70 yacht,70.5 to the power of 2/3 =17 plus 1 =18. The beam is often around 18 ft, for a 741 ft long ship, the cube root is 9, and 9 squared is 81, plus 1. The beam will usually be around 82 ft, e. g. Seawaymax, as catamarans have more than one hull, there is a different beam calculation for this kind of vessel. BOC stands for Beam On Centerline and this term in typically used in conjunction with LOA. The ratio of LOA/BOC is used to estimate the stability of multihull vessels, the lower the ratio the greater the boats stability. The BOC for vessels is measured as follows, For a catamaran, carlin – similar to a beam, except running in a fore and aft direction. Keever, John M. American Merchant Seamans Manual, turpin, Edward A. McEwen, William A
2.
Lake Ontario
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Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Ontario, Canadas most populous province, was named for the lake, in the Wyandot language, ontarío means “Lake of Shining Waters”. Its primary inlet is the Niagara River from Lake Erie, the last in the Great Lakes chain, Lake Ontario serves as the outlet to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence River. Lake Ontario is the easternmost of the Great Lakes and the smallest in surface area and it is the 14th largest lake in the world. When its islands are included, the lake has a shoreline that is 712 miles long. As the last lake in the Great Lakes hydrologic chain, Lake Ontario has the lowest mean elevation of the lakes at 243 feet above sea level,326 feet lower than its neighbor upstream. Its maximum length is 193 statute miles and its width is 53 statute miles. The lakes average depth is 47 fathoms 1 foot, with a depth of 133 fathoms 4 feet. The lakes primary source is the Niagara River, draining Lake Erie, the drainage basin covers 24,720 square miles. As with all the Great Lakes, water levels both within the year and among years. These water level fluctuations are a part of lake ecology. The lake also has an important freshwater fishery, although it has negatively affected by factors including over-fishing, water pollution. Baymouth bars built by prevailing winds and currents have created a significant number of lagoons and sheltered harbors, mostly near Prince Edward County, Ontario, perhaps the best-known example is Toronto Bay, chosen as the site of the Upper Canada capital for its strategic harbour. Other prominent examples include Hamilton Harbour, Irondequoit Bay, Presquile Bay, the bars themselves are the sites of long beaches, such as Sandbanks Provincial Park and Sandy Island Beach State Park. These sand bars are associated with large wetlands, which support large numbers of plant and animal species. Presquile, on the shore of Lake Ontario, is particularly significant in this regard. The lake basin was carved out of soft, weak Silurian-age rocks by the Wisconsin ice sheet during the last ice age, the action of the ice occurred along the pre-glacial Ontarian River valley which had approximately the same orientation as todays basin. As the ice sheet retreated toward the north, it still dammed the St. Lawrence valley outlet and this stage is known as Lake Iroquois
3.
Port Weller, Ontario
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Port Weller, Ontario is a community in St. Catharines, Regional Municipality of Niagara, Ontario, Canada and is part of the Golden Horseshoe region. It is located 8 kilometres north of the centre of St. Catharines at the end of the Welland Canal at Lake Ontario. Port Weller is bounded by Lake Ontario, Read Road, Linwell Road, Port Weller East & West are divided by the Welland Canal. Port Weller, Ontario was named after John Laing Weller, an engineer on the first Welland Canal, John Laing Weller, a graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada, is listed on the Wall of Honour in Kingston, Ontario. A unique attraction in Port Weller East is the 9/11 Memorial Park located on the Lake Ontario shoreline just north of Happy Rolphs Bird Sanctuary. The 9/11 Memorial Park is home to a variety of trees, to access the Memorial Park, take Lakeshore Road to Read Road and follow Read Road north to the lake. The first official child born in Port Weller, was Fredrick Shapero on November 18,1914, son of European immigrants, he eventually became founder of Active Customs Brokers Ltd. established in 1953. Aviador. es Metro Mobile Port Weller Marine Aerodrome
4.
Lake Erie
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Lake Erie is the fourth-largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the thirteenth-largest globally if measured in terms of surface area. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes, at its deepest point Lake Erie is 210 feet deep. Lake Eries northern shore is bounded by the Canadian province of Ontario, with the U. S. states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and these jurisdictions divide the surface area of the lake by water boundaries. The lake was named by the Erie people, a Native Americans people who lived along its southern shore and that Iroquoian tribe called it Erige because of its unpredictable and sometimes violently dangerous nature. It is a matter of whether the lake was named after the tribe. Situated below Lake Huron, Eries primary inlet is the Detroit River, Lake Erie has a mean elevation of 571 feet above sea level. It has an area of 9,990 square miles with a length of 241 statute miles. The warm summer of 1999 caused lake temperatures to come close to the 85 °F limit necessary to keep the plants cool, also because of its shallowness, and in spite of being the warmest lake in the summer, it is also the first to freeze in the winter. The waves build very quickly, according to other accounts, after being trapped for an hour-and-a-half, Baker was back on dry land, exhausted and battered but alive. This area is known as the thunderstorm capital of Canada with breathtaking lightning displays. Lake Erie is primarily fed by the Detroit River and drains via the Niagara River, navigation downstream is provided by the Welland Canal, part of the Saint Lawrence Seaway. Other major contributors to Lake Erie include the Grand River, the Huron River, the Maumee River, the Sandusky River, the Buffalo River, the drainage basin covers 30,140 square miles. Point Pelee National Park, the southernmost point of the Canadian mainland, is located on a peninsula extending into the lake. Several islands are found in the end of the lake, these belong to Ohio except for Pelee Island and eight neighboring islands. Major cities along Lake Erie include Buffalo, Erie, Pennsylvania, Toledo, Ohio, Islands tend to be located in the western side of the lake and total 31 in number. The island-village of Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island attracts young crowds who sometimes wear red hats and are prone to break off cartwheels in the park. Pelee Island is the largest of Eries islands, accessible by ferry from Leamington, Ontario and Sandusky, songbirds migrate to Pelee in spring, and monarch butterflies stop over during the fall. Lake Erie has a retention time of 2.6 years
5.
Port Colborne
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Port Colborne is a city on Lake Erie, at the southern end of the Welland Canal, in the Niagara Region of southern Ontario, Canada. In pre-colonial times, the Neutral Indians lived in the area, due in part to the availability of flint. This advantage was diminished by the introduction of firearms by European traders, growth became focused around the southern terminus of the Welland Canal after it was extended to reach Lake Erie in 1833. In 1970, Niagara Region municipal restructuring added Humberstone Township, further expanding the city, sometime during the 1880s, American tourists from the Southern states began building vacation homes on the lakeshore of the Western edge of the town. Before long, a gated community of vacationers from the South called Port Colborne their home during the summer months. Today, the street of Tennessee Avenue is still home to many of these original vacation homes and buildings, as well as the original stone. The street boasts some immaculately maintained examples of late 19th and early 20th century Southern architecture, Port Colborne was one of the hardest hit communities during the Blizzard of 1977. Thousands of people were stranded when the city was paralyzed during the storm, like other cities in the region, Port Colborne was a heavily industrial city throughout most of the early 20th century. A grain elevator, two flour mills, a Vale nickel refinery, a cement plant operated by Port Colborne Canada Cement. However, several of these operations have closed over the past thirty years, while companies that remain now employ significantly fewer residents due to modernization. However, the economy has shifted towards tourism and recreation. The International Nickel Company has long been one of the main employers. Cutbacks in operations and increasing factory automation have reduced the workforce to its total of 190. Marine Recycling Corporation is a recycling firm located next to the Welland Canal at Gravelly Bay. However, two studies, one in 1997 and another in 1999 found adverse effects which may have resulted from environmental exposures. Some residents launched a Class-Action Lawsuit against Inco in 2001 seeking $750 million in damages to health, property value, and quality-of-life. Although this suit failed to be certified in 2002, it was modified to limit the class. A timeline of the case has written from the point of view of the plaintiffs
6.
Garden City Skyway
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Six lanes of traffic are carried across the bridge, which is 2.2 km in length and 40 metres at its tallest point. It is the tallest and largest single structure along the entire QEW, the Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway, among all the bridges spanning the present Welland Canal, the Skyway is numbered Bridge 4A. Construction began in January 1960, with the span crossing the Welland Canal hoisted into place in July of that same year. The bridge was open to traffic on October 18,1963, during construction, the bridge was referred to as the Homer Skyway, taking its name from the lift bridge that the new skyway was to replace. Upon dedication, the bridge was named the Garden City Skyway. Tolls were charged on the bridge until 1973, the construction work included an Ontario tall-wall concrete median barrier, new bridge parapets, and the installation of shaded high-pressure sodium lights using the existing truss poles. In 2015, the high-pressure sodium lights on the bridge were replaced with bright white LED lights on the existing truss poles, bridges portal Ontario portal Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway Queen Elizabeth Way Welland Canal List of longest bridges
7.
St. Catharines
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St. Catharines is the largest city in Canadas Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in Ontario, with 96.13 square kilometres of land and 133,113 residents in 2016. It lies in Southern Ontario,51 kilometres south of Toronto across Lake Ontario and it is the northern entrance of the Welland Canal. Residents of St. Catharines are known as St. Cathariners, St. Catharines carries the official nickname The Garden City due to its 1,000 acres of parks, gardens and trails. St. Catharines is located between the Greater Toronto Area and the Fort Erie – US border, manufacturing is the citys dominant industry, as noted by the heraldic motto, Industry and Liberality. General Motors of Canada, Ltd. the Canadian subsidiary of General Motors, was the citys largest employer, TRW Automotive operates a plant in the city, though in recent years employment there has shifted from heavy industry and manufacturing to services. St. Catharines lies on one of the main telecommunications backbones between Canada and the United States, and as a result a number of call centres operate in the city, the city was first settled by Loyalists in the 1780s. The Crown granted them land in compensation for their services and for losses in the United States, early histories credit Serjeant Jacob Dittrick and Private John Hainer, formerly of Butlers Rangers, as among the first to come to the area. They took their Crown Patents where Dicks Creek and 12 Mile Creek merge, although never documented, some local St. Catharines historians speculate that Dicks Creek was named after Richard Pierpoint, a Black Loyalist and former American slave. Secondary to water routes, native trails provided transportation networks, resulting in the present-day radial road pattern from the City centre, the surrounding land was surveyed and Townships created between 1787 and 1789. He did this from his mill, built on the 12 Mile Creek in Power Glen, after his death in 1786, his holdings were forfeited to merchant Robert Hamilton of Queenston. Hamilton tried to operate for profit the already well-established Murrays Distribution Centre, among other ventures, Hamilton became land wealthy, expropriating lands from subsistence Loyalist settlers who were incapable of settling their debts. Murrays distribution centre, later Hamiltons warehouse, and its location have long been a mystery, Hamilton lacked interest in social development and sold his business to Jesse Thompson before the turn of the 18th century. The small settlement was known as The Twelve and as Murrays District to military and civic officials and this is confirmed in St. Catharines’ first history, written by J. P. Merritt, to be historically accurate the name St. Catharines preceded all of these…. The Merritt family arrived after this time, among the later Loyalists to relocate following the American Revolution and they were from the Carolinas, New York state and New Brunswick. In 1796, Thomas Merritt arrived to build on his relationship with his former Commander and Queens Ranger, John Graves Simcoe, at an unknown early date, an inn was built by Thomas Adams on the east side of what is now Ontario Street. It became a community meeting place, election centre, stagecoach stop, and mail delivery deposit. This was preceded by the church and a log school house completed before 1797 and this was an extension of the old Iroquois Trail and was renamed St. Paul Street by the settlers and descendant by the mid-19th century. Several mills, salt works, numerous outlets, a ship building yard, distillery
8.
Ship canal
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Ship canals may be specially constructed from the start to accommodate ships, or less frequently they may be enlarged barge canals, or canalized or channelized rivers. There are no specific dimensions for ship canals, with the size being largely dictated by the size of ships in use nearby at the time of construction or enlargement. Ship canals may be constructed for a number of reasons, including, To create a shortcut, to create a navigable shipping link between two land-locked seas or lakes. To provide inland cities with a shipping link to the sea
9.
Ontario
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Ontario, one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada, is located in east-central Canada. It is Canadas most populous province by a margin, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all Canadians. Ontario is fourth-largest in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and it is home to the nations capital city, Ottawa, and the nations most populous city, Toronto. There is only about 1 km of land made up of portages including Height of Land Portage on the Minnesota border. Ontario is sometimes divided into two regions, Northern Ontario and Southern Ontario. The great majority of Ontarios population and arable land is located in the south, in contrast, the larger, northern part of Ontario is sparsely populated with cold winters and is heavily forested. The province is named after Lake Ontario, a thought to be derived from Ontarí, io, a Huron word meaning great lake, or possibly skanadario. Ontario has about 250,000 freshwater lakes, the province consists of three main geographical regions, The thinly populated Canadian Shield in the northwestern and central portions, which comprises over half the land area of Ontario. Although this area mostly does not support agriculture, it is rich in minerals and in part covered by the Central and Midwestern Canadian Shield forests, studded with lakes, Northern Ontario is subdivided into two sub-regions, Northwestern Ontario and Northeastern Ontario. The virtually unpopulated Hudson Bay Lowlands in the north and northeast, mainly swampy. Southern Ontario which is further sub-divided into four regions, Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario, Golden Horseshoe, the highest point is Ishpatina Ridge at 693 metres above sea level located in Temagami, Northeastern Ontario. In the south, elevations of over 500 m are surpassed near Collingwood, above the Blue Mountains in the Dundalk Highlands, the Carolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern region of the province. A well-known geographic feature is Niagara Falls, part of the Niagara Escarpment, the Saint Lawrence Seaway allows navigation to and from the Atlantic Ocean as far inland as Thunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario. Northern Ontario occupies roughly 87 percent of the area of the province. Point Pelee is a peninsula of Lake Erie in southwestern Ontario that is the southernmost extent of Canadas mainland, Pelee Island and Middle Island in Lake Erie extend slightly farther. All are south of 42°N – slightly farther south than the border of California. The climate of Ontario varies by season and location, the effects of these major air masses on temperature and precipitation depend mainly on latitude, proximity to major bodies of water and to a small extent, terrain relief. In general, most of Ontarios climate is classified as humid continental, Ontario has three main climatic regions
10.
Canada
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Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
11.
Saint Lawrence Seaway
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The Seaway is named for the Saint Lawrence River, which flows from Lake Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean. Legally, the Seaway extends from Montreal, Quebec, to Lake Erie, Lawrence River to bypass several rapids and dams along the way. The section of the downstream of Montreal, which is fully within Canadian jurisdiction, is regulated by the offices of Transport Canada in the Port of Quebec. The Saint Lawrence Seaway was preceded by a number of other canals, in 1871, locks on the Saint Lawrence allowed transit of vessels 186 ft long,44 ft 6 in wide, and 9 ft deep. The First Welland Canal, constructed from 1824–1829, had a minimum size of 110 ft long,22 ft wide, and 8 ft deep. The Welland Canals minimum lock size was increased to 150 ft long,26, the first proposals for a bi-national comprehensive deep waterway along the St. Lawrence were made in the 1890s. United States proposals for development up to and including the First World War met with little interest from the Canadian federal government, but the two national governments submitted St. Lawrence plans to a group for study. By the early 1920s, both The Wooten-Bowden Report and the International Joint Commission recommended the project and this treaty was submitted to the United States Senate in November 1932 and hearings continued until a vote was taken on March 14,1934. The majority voted in favor of the treaty, but it failed to gain the necessary two-thirds vote for ratification, subsequent attempts between the governments in the 1930s to forge an agreement came to naught due to opposition by the Ontario government of Mitchell Hepburn, and that of Quebec. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to get his support of the Seaway concept, Beukema and St. Lawrence Seaway proponents were convinced that such a nautical link would lead to development of the communities and economies of the Great Lakes region by enabling ocean-going ships. In this period, grain exports to Europe were highly important to the national economy, the negotiations on the treaty resumed in 1938 and by January 1940, substantial agreement was reached between Canada and the United States. By 1941, President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Mackenzie King made an agreement to build the joint hydro and navigation works. The railroads carried freight and goods between the ports and the Great Lakes cities. After 1945, proposals to introduce tolls to the Seaway were not sufficient to support by the U. S. Congress for the project. Growing impatient, and with Ontario desperate for the power to be generated by hydro-electricity and this seized the imagination of Canadians, engendering a groundswell of St. Lawrence nationalism. Fueled by this support, St. Laurents administration decided over the course of 1951 and 1952 to construct the waterway alone, the International Joint Commission issued an order of approval for joint construction of the dam in October 1952. U. S. Senate debate on the bill began on January 12,1953, and it received approval by the Senate and the House by May 1954. The need for cheap haulage of Quebec - Labrador iron ore was one of the arguments that finally swung the balance in favor of the seaway, ground-breaking ceremonies took place in Massena, New York, on August 10,1954
12.
Niagara Peninsula
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The Niagara Peninsula is the portion of Southern Ontario, Canada, lying between the south shore of Lake Ontario and the north shore of Lake Erie. Technically an isthmus rather than a peninsula, it stretches from the Niagara River in the east to Hamilton, Ontario, the population of the peninsula is roughly 1,000,000 people. The region directly across the Niagara River and Lake Erie in New York State is known as the Niagara Frontier, the broader Buffalo Niagara Region includes the Niagara Peninsula, the Niagara Frontier, and the city of Buffalo, New York. The greater part of the peninsula is incorporated as the Regional Municipality of Niagara, cities in the region include St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, Thorold, Port Colborne and Welland. Towns include Niagara-on-the-Lake, Lincoln, Pelham, Grimsby and Fort Erie, as well as the townships Wainfleet, the remainder of the peninsula encompasses parts of the City of Hamilton and Haldimand County. The Neutrals were wiped out by the Iroquois c.1650 as the sought to expand their fur-trapping territory as part of the Beaver Wars. The Niagara Peninsula then became one of the first areas settled in Upper Canada by British Loyalists in the late 18th century, the capital of the new colony was established with the founding of Niagara-on-the-Lake, then called Newark. While agriculture – especially fruit farming along the shore of Lake Ontario – remains important to this day, a succession of canals were built to connect the markets and mineral resources of the upper Great Lakes with the St. Lawrence Seaway. General Motors built a presence in St. Catharines with auto plants and a foundry. Dry docks were built at Port Weller on Lake Ontario. Heavy industry has been diminishing for the past decade or more due to the slow-down of the North American automotive manufacturers. Because of this, local municipalities have been forced to look at new, hospitality and tourism has attracted numerous visitors to the area for more than 150 years primarily thanks to Niagara Falls. New development beginning during the mid-1990s has spun off an upscale hospitality boom throughout the whole Niagara Peninsula, today, more than 10 million guests visit the peninsula annually to see the beauty of the Falls and the Niagara Parks. Ecotourism has become popular with more people finding and exploring out of the way places such as the Niagara Escarpment. Another area of tourism growth in the past thirty years has been the expansion of the grape. The Niagara Peninsula is one of four recognized viticultural areas by the VQA in the Ontario wine industry, the many European-style wineries and vineyards have played a major role in attracting visitors seeking a unique cultural experience. Most of the local wineries offer tours of their facilities with a few offering onsite dining featuring unique Canadian cuisine paired with their own VQA vintages. It is common for many of these wineries world-class chefs to use fresh ingredients that are grown or acquired from local farms in season, some wineries also feature live music and theatrical performances in the vineyard during the summer months
13.
Niagara Escarpment
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The Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in the United States and Canada that runs predominantly east/west from New York, through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. The escarpment is most famous as the cliff over which the Niagara River plunges at Niagara Falls, the Niagara Escarpment is the most prominent of several escarpments formed in the bedrock of the Great Lakes Basin. From its easternmost point near Watertown, New York, the escarpment shapes in part the individual basins and landforms of Lakes Ontario, Huron, in Rochester, New York, three waterfalls over the escarpment are where the Genesee River flows through the city. The escarpment thence runs westward to the Niagara River, forming a gorge north of Niagara Falls. Study of rock exposures and drillholes demonstrates that no displacement of the rock layers occurs at the escarpment, the escarpments caprock is dolomitic limestone, which is more resistant and overlies weaker, more easily eroded shale as a weathering-resistant cap. The escarpment thus formed over millions of years through a process of erosion of rocks of different hardnesses. Through time the soft rocks weather away or erode by the action of streams, the gradual removal of the soft rocks undercuts the resistant caprock, leaving a cliff or escarpment. The erosional process is most readily seen at Niagara Falls, where the river has quickened the process and it can also be seen at the three waterfalls of the Genesee River at Rochester. Also, in places thick glacial deposits conceal the Niagara Escarpment, such as north of Georgetown, Ontario. The dolostone cap was laid down as sediment on the floor of a marine environment, in Michigan, behind the escarpment, the cuesta capstone slopes gently to form a wide basin, the floor of an Ordovician-Silurian-age tropical sea. During the Silurian period, some magnesium substituted for some of the calcium in the carbonates, worldwide sea levels were at their all-time maximum in the Ordovician, as the sea retreated, erosion inevitably began. This dolostone basin contains Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Erie, the Welland Canal allows ships to traverse the escarpment between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario on the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario. In southern Ontario, the Bruce Trail runs the length of the escarpment from Queenston on the Niagara River to Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula. Highway 401, Canadas busiest, also crosses the Niagara Escarpment, beginning its descent through rolling hills, farmland. Rock exposed on the face of the escarpment can be seen along Highway 26 from Owen Sound eastwards towards Meaford, hamilton, Ontario, is situated on the escarpment in such a way that the north end of the city is below and the south part above. Affectionately referred to as The Mountain by its residents, many roads or mountain accesses join the urban core below with the suburban expansion above. High Cliff State Park in Wisconsin shows how modern and prehistoric humans used the escarpment for not only cultural reasons, a number of different animal and geometric effigy mounds and the remains of an early 20th-century limestone quarry and kiln are within the park. The relief and exposed edge are used by wind farms stretching from Pipe, Wisconsin, to Brownsville
14.
Niagara Falls
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They form the southern end of the Niagara Gorge. From largest to smallest, the three waterfalls are the Horseshoe Falls, the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls, the Horseshoe Falls lies on the border of the United States and Canada with the American Falls entirely on the American side, separated by Goat Island. The smaller Bridal Veil Falls are also on the American side, the international boundary line was originally drawn through Horseshoe Falls in 1819, but the boundary has long been in dispute due to natural erosion and construction. Located on the Niagara River, which drains Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, Horseshoe Falls is the most powerful waterfall in North America, as measured by vertical height and flow rate. The falls are 17 miles north-northwest of Buffalo, New York, while not exceptionally high, the Niagara Falls are very wide. More than six cubic feet of water falls over the crest line every minute in high flow. The Niagara Falls are famed both for their beauty and as a source of hydroelectric power. Balancing recreational, commercial, and industrial uses has been a challenge for the stewards of the falls since the 19th century. The Horseshoe Falls drop about 188 feet, while the height of the American Falls varies between 70 and 100 feet because of the presence of giant boulders at its base. The larger Horseshoe Falls are about 2,600 feet wide, the distance between the American extremity of the Niagara Falls and the Canadian extremity is 3,409 feet. The volume of water approaching the falls during peak season may sometimes be as much as 225,000 cubic feet per second. The average annual rate is 85,000 cubic feet per second. Since the flow is a function of the Lake Erie water elevation. This is accomplished by employing a weir – the International Control Dam – with movable gates upstream from the Horseshoe Falls. The falls flow is further halved at night, and, during the low tourist season in the winter, water diversion is regulated by the 1950 Niagara Treaty and is administered by the International Niagara Board of Control. The current rate of erosion is approximately 1 foot per year and it is estimated that 50,000 years from now, even at this reduced rate of erosion, the remaining 20 miles to Lake Erie will have been undermined and the falls will cease to exist. The features that became Niagara Falls were created by the Wisconsin glaciation about 10,000 years ago, the same forces also created the North American Great Lakes and the Niagara River. All were dug by an ice sheet that drove through the area, deepening some river channels to form lakes
15.
Toronto
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Toronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. With a population of 2,731,571, it is the fourth most populous city in North America after Mexico City, New York City, and Los Angeles. A global city, Toronto is a centre of business, finance, arts, and culture. Aboriginal peoples have inhabited the area now known as Toronto for thousands of years, the city itself is situated on the southern terminus of an ancient Aboriginal trail leading north to Lake Simcoe, used by the Wyandot, Iroquois, and the Mississauga. Permanent European settlement began in the 1790s, after the broadly disputed Toronto Purchase of 1787, the British established the town of York, and later designated it as the capital of Upper Canada. During the War of 1812, the town was the site of the Battle of York, York was renamed and incorporated as the city of Toronto in 1834, and became the capital of the province of Ontario during the Canadian Confederation in 1867. The city proper has since expanded past its original borders through amalgamation with surrounding municipalities at various times in its history to its current area of 630.2 km2. While the majority of Torontonians speak English as their primary language, Toronto is a prominent centre for music, theatre, motion picture production, and television production, and is home to the headquarters of Canadas major national broadcast networks and media outlets. Toronto is known for its skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, in particular the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere. The name Toronto is likely derived from the Iroquois word tkaronto and this refers to the northern end of what is now Lake Simcoe, where the Huron had planted tree saplings to corral fish. A portage route from Lake Ontario to Lake Huron running through this point, in the 1660s, the Iroquois established two villages within what is today Toronto, Ganatsekwyagon on the banks of the Rouge River and Teiaiagonon the banks of the Humber River. By 1701, the Mississauga had displaced the Iroquois, who abandoned the Toronto area at the end of the Beaver Wars, French traders founded Fort Rouillé on the current Exhibition grounds in 1750, but abandoned it in 1759. During the American Revolutionary War, the region saw an influx of British settlers as United Empire Loyalists fled for the British-controlled lands north of Lake Ontario, the new province of Upper Canada was in the process of creation and needed a capital. Dorchester intended the location to be named Toronto, in 1793, Governor John Graves Simcoe established the town of York on the Toronto Purchase lands, instead naming it after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany. Simcoe decided to move the Upper Canada capital from Newark to York, the York garrison was constructed at the entrance of the towns natural harbour, sheltered by a long sandbar peninsula. The towns settlement formed at the end of the harbour behind the peninsula, near the present-day intersection of Parliament Street. In 1813, as part of the War of 1812, the Battle of York ended in the towns capture, the surrender of the town was negotiated by John Strachan. US soldiers destroyed much of the garrison and set fire to the parliament buildings during their five-day occupation, the sacking of York was a primary motivation for the Burning of Washington by British troops later in the war
16.
Great Lakes
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Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth, containing 21% of the worlds surface fresh water by volume. The total surface is 94,250 square miles, and the volume is 5,439 cubic miles. Due to their sea-like characteristics the five Great Lakes have also long been referred to as inland seas, Lake Superior is the second largest lake in the world by area, and Lake Michigan is the largest lake that is entirely within one country. The southern half of the Great Lakes is bordered by the Great Lakes Megalopolis, the lakes have been a major highway for transportation, migration and trade, and they are home to a large number of aquatic species. Many invasive species have been introduced due to trade, and some threaten the regions biodiversity, though the five lakes reside in separate basins, they form a single, naturally interconnected body of fresh water, within the Great Lakes Basin. The lakes form a chain connecting the interior of North America to the Atlantic Ocean. From the interior to the outlet at the Saint Lawrence River, water flows from Superior to Huron and Michigan, southward to Erie, the lakes drain a large watershed via many rivers, and are studded with approximately 35,000 islands. There are also several smaller lakes, often called inland lakes. The surface area of the five primary lakes combined is roughly equal to the size of the United Kingdom, while the area of the entire basin is about the size of the UK. Lake Michigan is the one of the Great Lakes that is located entirely within the United States. The lakes are divided among the jurisdictions of the Canadian province of Ontario and the U. S. states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Both Ontario and Michigan include in their boundaries portions of four of the lakes, Ontario does not border Lake Michigan, New York and Wisconsins jurisdictions extend into two lakes, and the remaining states into one of the lakes. This designation, however, is not universal and those living on the shore of Lake Superior often refer to all the other lakes as the lower lakes, because they are farther south. This corresponds to thinking of Lakes Erie and Ontario as down south, vessels sailing north on Lake Michigan are considered upbound even though they are sailing toward its effluent current. The Chicago River and Calumet River systems connect the Great Lakes Basin to the Mississippi River System through man-made alterations, the St. Marys River, including the Soo Locks, connects Lake Superior to Lake Huron. The Straits of Mackinac connect Lake Michigan to Lake Huron, the St. Clair River connects Lake Huron to Lake St. Clair. The Detroit River connects Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie, the Niagara River, including Niagara Falls, connects Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. The Welland Canal, bypassing the Falls, connects Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, the Saint Lawrence River connects Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which connects to the Atlantic Ocean
17.
Cleveland
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Cleveland is a city in the U. S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the states second most populous county. The city proper has a population of 388,072, making Cleveland the 51st largest city in the United States, Greater Cleveland ranked as the 32nd largest metropolitan area in the United States, with 2,055,612 people in 2016. The city is the center of the Cleveland–Akron–Canton Combined Statistical Area, the city is located on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles west of the Pennsylvania border. Clevelands economy has diversified sectors that include manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, Cleveland is also home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Residents of Cleveland are called Clevelanders, Cleveland has many nicknames, the oldest of which in contemporary use being The Forest City. Cleaveland oversaw the plan for what would become the downtown area, centered on Public Square, before returning home. The first settler in Cleaveland was Lorenzo Carter, who built a cabin on the banks of the Cuyahoga River, the Village of Cleaveland was incorporated on December 23,1814. In spite of the swampy lowlands and harsh winters, its waterfront location proved to be an advantage. The area began rapid growth after the 1832 completion of the Ohio, growth continued with added railroad links. Cleveland incorporated as a city in 1836, in 1836, the city, then located only on the eastern banks of the Cuyahoga River, nearly erupted into open warfare with neighboring Ohio City over a bridge connecting the two. Ohio City remained an independent municipality until its annexation by Cleveland in 1854, the citys prime geographic location as a transportation hub on the Great Lakes has played an important role in its development as a commercial center. Cleveland serves as a point for iron ore shipped from Minnesota. In 1870, John D. Rockefeller founded Standard Oil in Cleveland, other manufacturers located in Cleveland produced steam-powered cars, which included White and Gaeth, as well as the electric car company Baker. Because of the significant growth, Cleveland was known as the Sixth City during this period, by 1920, due in large part to the citys economic prosperity, Cleveland became the nations fifth largest city. The city counted Progressive Era politicians such as the populist Mayor Tom L. Johnson among its leaders, many prominent Clevelanders from this era are buried in the historic Lake View Cemetery, including President James A. Garfield, and John D. Rockefeller. In commemoration of the centennial of Clevelands incorporation as a city, conceived as a way to energize a city after the Great Depression, it drew four million visitors in its first season, and seven million by the end of its second and final season in September 1937. The exposition was housed on grounds that are now used by the Great Lakes Science Center, following World War II, the city experienced a prosperous economy. In sports, the Indians won the 1948 World Series, the hockey Barons became champions of the American Hockey League, as a result, along with track and boxing champions produced, Cleveland was dubbed City of Champions in sports at this time
18.
Detroit
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Detroit is the most populous city in the U. S. state of Michigan, the fourth-largest city in the Midwest and the largest city on the United States–Canada border. It is the seat of Wayne County, the most populous county in the state, the municipality of Detroit had a 2015 estimated population of 677,116, making it the 21st-most populous city in the United States. Roughly one-half of Michigans population lives in Metro Detroit alone, the Detroit–Windsor area, a commercial link straddling the Canada–U. S. Border, has a population of about 5.7 million. Detroit is a port on the Detroit River, a strait that connects the Great Lakes system to the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The Detroit Metropolitan Airport is among the most important hubs in the United States, the City of Detroit anchors the second-largest economic region in the Midwest, behind Chicago, and the thirteenth-largest in the United States. Detroit and its neighboring Canadian city Windsor are connected through a tunnel and various bridges, Detroit was founded on July 24,1701 by the French explorer and adventurer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and a party of settlers. During the 19th century, it became an important industrial hub at the center of the Great Lakes region, with expansion of the American automobile industry in the early 20th century, the Detroit area emerged as a significant metropolitan region within the United States. The city became the fourth-largest in the country for a period, in the 1950s and 1960s, suburban expansion continued with construction of a regional freeway system. A great portion of Detroits public transport was abandoned in favour of becoming a city in the post-war period. Due to industrial restructuring and loss of jobs in the auto industry, between 2000 and 2010 the citys population fell by 25 percent, changing its ranking from the nations 10th-largest city to 18th. In 2010, the city had a population of 713,777 and this resulted from suburbanization, corruption, industrial restructuring and the decline of Detroits auto industry. In 2013, the state of Michigan declared an emergency for the city. Detroit has experienced urban decay as its population and jobs have shifted to its suburbs or elsewhere, conservation efforts managed to save many architectural pieces since the 2000s and allowed several large-scale revitalisations. More recently, the population of Downtown Detroit, Midtown Detroit, paleo-Indian people inhabited areas near Detroit as early as 11,000 years ago. In the 17th century, the region was inhabited by Huron, Odawa, Potawatomi, for the next hundred years, virtually no British, colonist, or French action was contemplated without consultation with, or consideration of the Iroquois likely response. When the French and Indian War evicted the Kingdom of France from Canada, the 1798 raids and resultant 1799 decisive Sullivan Expedition reopened the Ohio Country to westward emigration, which began almost immediately, and by 1800 white settlers were pouring westwards. By 1773, the population of Detroit was 1,400, by 1778, its population was up to 2,144 and it was the third-largest city in the Province of Quebec
19.
Chicago
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Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the third-most populous city in the United States. With over 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the state of Illinois, and it is the county seat of Cook County. In 2012, Chicago was listed as a global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Chicago has the third-largest gross metropolitan product in the United States—about $640 billion according to 2015 estimates, the city has one of the worlds largest and most diversified economies with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. In 2016, Chicago hosted over 54 million domestic and international visitors, landmarks in the city include Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, the Willis Tower, Museum of Science and Industry, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicagos culture includes the arts, novels, film, theater, especially improvisational comedy. Chicago also has sports teams in each of the major professional leagues. The city has many nicknames, the best-known being the Windy City, the name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, known to botanists as Allium tricoccum, from the Miami-Illinois language. The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as Checagou was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir, henri Joutel, in his journal of 1688, noted that the wild garlic, called chicagoua, grew abundantly in the area. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by a Native American tribe known as the Potawatomi, the first known non-indigenous permanent settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African and French descent and arrived in the 1780s and he is commonly known as the Founder of Chicago. In 1803, the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed in 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn, the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribes had ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, on August 12,1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 4,000 people, on June 15,1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as U. S. The City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4,1837, as the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicagos first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, and the Illinois, the canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad, manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy. The Chicago Board of Trade listed the first ever standardized exchange traded forward contracts and these issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the national stage
20.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
21.
Port of Montreal
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The Port of Montreal is a port and transshipment point on the St. Lawrence River in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. On the Saint Lawrence Seaway 1,600 kilometres inland from the Atlantic Ocean, it is on the shortest direct route from Europe and the Mediterranean to North America. It is a container port that services Toronto and the rest of Central Canada, the U. S. Midwest. In 2012 More than 2,000 cargo ships visited, with the port handling 28,422,003 tonnes of goods, machinery, cereal, sugar, petroleum, products. It is operated by the Montreal Port Authority, the port originated in the historic area now known as the Old Port of Montreal. Over the years, the Port of Montreal expanded eastward along the waterfront, in 1978, the Port of Montreal ceded the area now known as the Old Port to the Old Port Corporation, a public corporation responsible for developing tourism and recreational activities in the area. The site is now a gem and a major tourist attraction, having been enhanced with museums, restaurants, shops. Today, most Port of Montreal facilities are located downstream from the Old Port, the Montreal Port Authoritys head office and the multipurpose Bickerdike Terminal are located upstream from the Old Port. Starting from the first authority,1830, The first Harbour Commission is created and it builds the first permanent wharves and presses the government to dredge the river. 1830-1832,1,143 metres of docks are built,1840, The Gold-Headed Cane tradition begins. 1854, The navigation channel between Quebec City and Montreal is deepened to 4.88 metres and widened to 76.19 metres. 1872, Archives for May 28 note that there were 70 vessels -21 of them ocean-going steamships - docked at different berths,1883, Channel is dredged to 7.5 metres. 1902, Start of construction of grain elevators in the port. 1908, First permanent transit sheds constructed,1910, Project to deepen the channel to 10.7 metres begins. 1936, The federal government creates the National Harbours Board,1947, More than 25 steamship lines serve the port for seven and a half months of the year. 1962, The federal government decides to use icebreakers to keep the open between Montreal and Quebec City during winter. 1964, Year-round navigation begins in Montreal, Year-round navigation to and from the port began in 1964. 1967, The port handles its first container,1968, Canadas first container terminal is inaugurated in Montreal
22.
Quebec City
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Quebec City, French, Ville de Québec, officially Québec) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain, Quebec City is one of the oldest cities in North America. The citys landmarks include the Château Frontenac, a hotel which dominates the skyline, and La Citadelle, the National Assembly of Quebec, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, and the Musée de la civilisation are found within or near Vieux-Québec. Thus, Québec is officially spelled with an accented é in both Canadian English and French, although the accent is not used in common English usage. Quebec City is one of the oldest European settlements in North America, while many of the major cities in Latin America date from the sixteenth century, among cities in Canada and the U. S. few were created earlier than Quebec City. Also, Quebecs Old Town is the only North American fortified city north of Mexico whose walls still exist, French explorer Jacques Cartier built a fort at the site in 1535, where he stayed for the winter before going back to France in spring 1536. He came back in 1541 with the goal of building a permanent settlement, Quebec was founded by Samuel de Champlain, a French explorer and diplomat on 3 July 1608, and at the site of a long abandoned St. Lawrence Iroquoian settlement called Stadacona. Champlain, also called The Father of New France, served as its administrator for the rest of his life, the name Canada refers to this settlement. Although called the cradle of the Francophone population in North America, the place seemed favourable to the establishment of a permanent colony. In 1629 there was the surrender of Quebec, without battle, however, Samuel de Champlain argued that the English seizing of the lands was illegal as the war had already ended, he worked to have the lands returned to France. As part of the negotiations of their exit from the Anglo-French War. These terms were signed into law with the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the lands in Quebec and Acadia were returned to the French Company of One Hundred Associates. In 1665, there were 550 people in 70 houses living in the city, one-quarter of the people were members of religious orders, secular priests, Jesuits, Ursulines nuns and the order running the local hospital, Hotel-Dieu. Quebec City was the headquarters of many raids against New England during the four French, in the last war, the French and Indian War, Quebec City was captured by the British in 1759 and held until the end of the war in 1763. France ceded New France, including the city, to Britain in 1763, at the end of French rule in 1763, forests, villages, fields and pastures surrounded the town of 8,000 inhabitants. The town distinguished itself by its architecture, fortifications, affluent homes of masonry and shacks in the suburbs of Saint-Jean. Despite its urbanity and its status as capital, Quebec City remained a small city with close ties to its rural surroundings. Nearby inhabitants traded their farm surpluses and firewood for imported goods from France at the two city markets, during the American Revolution revolutionary troops from the southern colonies assaulted the British garrison in an attempt to liberate Quebec City, in a conflict now known as the Battle of Quebec
23.
Erie Canal
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The Erie Canal is a canal in New York that is part of the east–west, cross-state route of the New York State Canal System. Originally, it ran about 363 miles from Albany, on the Hudson River, to Buffalo and it was built to create a navigable water route from New York City and the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. First proposed in the 1780s, then re-proposed in 1807, a survey was authorized, funded, proponents of the project gradually wore down opponents, its construction began in 1817. The canal has 35 numbered locks, plus the Federal Black Rock Lock, and it opened on October 26,1825. In a time when bulk goods were limited to pack animals and it was faster than carts pulled by draft animals, and cut transport costs by about 95%. The canal fostered a population surge in western New York and opened regions farther west to settlement and it was enlarged between 1834 and 1862. The canals peak year was 1855, when 33,000 commercial shipments took place. In 1918, the part of the canal was enlarged to become part of the New York State Barge Canal, which ran parallel to the eastern half of the Erie Canal. Mainly used by recreational watercraft since the retirement of the last large ship, the Day Peckinpaugh in 1994. This was not unique to the Americas, and the still exists in those parts of the world where muscle power provides a primary means of transportation within a region. An equally ancient solution was implemented in many cultures — things in the water weighed far less, passengers and freight had to travel overland, a journey made more difficult by the rough condition of the roads. In 1800, it typically took 2.5 weeks to travel overland from New York to Cleveland, the principal exportable product of the Ohio Valley was grain, which was a high-volume, low-priced commodity, bolstered by supplies from the coast. Frequently it was not worth the cost of transporting it to far-away population centers and this was a factor leading to farmers in the west turning their grains into whiskey for easier transport and higher sales, and later the Whiskey Rebellion. In time, projects were devised in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, the successes of the Canal du Midi in France, Bridgewater Canal in Britain, and Eiderkanal in Denmark spurred on what was called in Britain canal mania. Two men, Gouverneur Morris and Elkanah Watson, were proponents of a canal along the Mohawk River. Their efforts led to the creation of the Western and Northern Inland Lock Navigation Companies in 1792, by 1788, Washingtons Potomac Company was successful in constructing five locks which took boats 4,500 feet past the Potomac Great Falls. However, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal superseded the Potomac Canal in 1823, christopher Colles surveyed the Mohawk Valley, and made a presentation to the New York state legislature in 1784, proposing a shorter canal from Lake Ontario. The proposal drew attention and some action, but was never implemented, jesse Hawley finally got the canal built
24.
Atlantic Ocean
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The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the worlds oceans with a total area of about 106,460,000 square kilometres. It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earths surface and about 29 percent of its surface area. It separates the Old World from the New World, the Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between Eurasia and Africa to the east, and the Americas to the west. The Equatorial Counter Current subdivides it into the North Atlantic Ocean, in contrast, the term Atlantic originally referred specifically to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and the sea off the Strait of Gibraltar and the North African coast. The Greek word thalassa has been reused by scientists for the huge Panthalassa ocean that surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea hundreds of years ago. The term Aethiopian Ocean, derived from Ancient Ethiopia, was applied to the Southern Atlantic as late as the mid-19th century, many Irish or British people refer to the United States and Canada as across the pond, and vice versa. The Black Atlantic refers to the role of ocean in shaping black peoples history. Irish migration to the US is meant when the term The Green Atlantic is used, the term Red Atlantic has been used in reference to the Marxian concept of an Atlantic working class, as well as to the Atlantic experience of indigenous Americans. Correspondingly, the extent and number of oceans and seas varies, the Atlantic Ocean is bounded on the west by North and South America. It connects to the Arctic Ocean through the Denmark Strait, Greenland Sea, Norwegian Sea, to the east, the boundaries of the ocean proper are Europe, the Strait of Gibraltar and Africa. In the southeast, the Atlantic merges into the Indian Ocean, the 20° East meridian, running south from Cape Agulhas to Antarctica defines its border. In the 1953 definition it extends south to Antarctica, while in later maps it is bounded at the 60° parallel by the Southern Ocean, the Atlantic has irregular coasts indented by numerous bays, gulfs, and seas. Including these marginal seas the coast line of the Atlantic measures 111,866 km compared to 135,663 km for the Pacific. Including its marginal seas, the Atlantic covers an area of 106,460,000 km2 or 23. 5% of the ocean and has a volume of 310,410,900 km3 or 23. 3%. Excluding its marginal seas, the Atlantic covers 81,760,000 km2 and has a volume of 305,811,900 km3, the North Atlantic covers 41,490,000 km2 and the South Atlantic 40,270,000 km2. The average depth is 3,646 m and the maximum depth, the bathymetry of the Atlantic is dominated by a submarine mountain range called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It runs from 87°N or 300 km south of the North Pole to the subantarctic Bouvet Island at 42°S, the MAR divides the Atlantic longitudinally into two halves, in each of which a series of basins are delimited by secondary, transverse ridges. The MAR reaches above 2000 m along most of its length, the MAR is a barrier for bottom water, but at these two transform faults deep water currents can pass from one side to the other
25.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
26.
Buffalo, New York
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Buffalo is a city in western New York state and the county seat of Erie County, on the eastern shores of Lake Erie at the head of the Niagara River. As of 2014, Buffalo is New York states 2nd-most populous city after New York City, the metropolitan area has a population of 1.13 million. After an economic downturn in the half of the 20th century, Buffalos economy has transitioned to sectors that include financial services, technology, biomedical engineering. Residents of Buffalo are called Buffalonians, the citys nicknames include The Queen City, The Nickel City and The City of Good Neighbors. The city of Buffalo received its name from a creek called Buffalo Creek. British military engineer Captain John Montresor made reference to Buffalo Creek in his journal of 1764, there are several theories regarding how Buffalo Creek received its name. In 1804, as principal agent opening the area for the Holland Land Company, Joseph Ellicott, designed a radial street and grid system that branches out from downtown like bicycle spokes similar to the street system he used in the nations capital. Although Ellicott named the settlement New Amsterdam, the name did not catch on, during the War of 1812, on December 30,1813, Buffalo was burned by British forces. The George Coit House 1818 and Samuel Schenck House 1823 are currently the oldest houses within the limits of the City of Buffalo, on October 26,1825, the Erie Canal was completed with Buffalo a port-of-call for settlers heading westward. At the time, the population was about 2,400, the Erie Canal brought about a surge in population and commerce, which led Buffalo to incorporate as a city in 1832. In 1845, construction began on the Macedonia Baptist Church, an important meeting place for the abolitionist movement, Buffalo was a terminus point of the Underground Railroad with many fugitive slaves crossing the Niagara River to Fort Erie, Ontario in search of freedom. During the 1840s, Buffalos port continued to develop, both passenger and commercial traffic expanded with some 93,000 passengers heading west from the port of Buffalo. Grain and commercial goods shipments led to repeated expansion of the harbor, in 1843, the worlds first steam-powered grain elevator was constructed by local merchant Joseph Dart and engineer Robert Dunbar. Darts Elevator enabled faster unloading of lake freighters along with the transshipment of grain in bulk from barges, canal boats, by 1850, the citys population was 81,000. At the dawn of the 20th century, local mills were among the first to benefit from hydroelectric power generated by the Niagara River, the city got the nickname City of Light at this time due to the widespread electric lighting. It was also part of the revolution, hosting the brass era car builders Pierce Arrow. President William McKinley was shot and mortally wounded by an anarchist at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo on September 6,1901, McKinley died in the city eight days later and Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in at the Wilcox Mansion as the 26th President of the United States. The Great Depression of 1929–39 saw severe unemployment, especially working class men
27.
Lock (water navigation)
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A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. Locks are used to make a more easily navigable, or to allow a canal to cross land that is not level. Later canals used more and larger locks to allow a direct route to be taken. Since 2016 the largest lock worldwide is the Kieldrecht Lock in the Port of Antwerp, a pound lock is a type of lock that is used almost exclusively nowadays on canals and rivers. A pound lock has a chamber with gates at both ends that control the level of water in the pound, in contrast, an earlier design with a single gate was known as a flash lock. Pound locks were first used in medieval China during the Song Dynasty, having been pioneered by the government official and engineer Qiao Weiyue in 984. The gates were hanging gates, when they were closed the water accumulated like a tide until the level was reached. The water level could differ by 4 feet or 5 feet at each lock, in medieval Europe a sort of pound lock was built in 1373 at Vreeswijk, Netherlands. This pound lock serviced many ships at once in a large basin, yet the first true pound lock was built in 1396 at Damme near Bruges, Belgium. A famous civil engineer of pound locks in Europe was the Italian Bertola da Novate, who constructed 18 of them on the Naviglio di Bereguardo between the years 1452 and 1458. When a stretch of river is navigable, a lock is sometimes required to bypass an obstruction such as a rapid, dam. In large scale river navigation improvements, weirs and locks are used together, a river improved by these means is often called a Waterway or River Navigation. Sometimes a river is made entirely non-tidal by constructing a sea lock directly into the estuary, in more advanced river navigations, more locks are required. Where a longer cut bypasses a stretch of river, the upstream end of the cut will often be protected by a flood lock. The longer the cut, the greater the difference in level between start and end of the cut, so that a very long cut will need additional locks along its length. At this point, the cut is, in effect, a canal, Early completely artificial canals, across fairly flat countryside, would get round a small hill or depression by simply detouring around it. However, locks continued to be built to supplement these solutions, all pound locks have three elements, A watertight chamber connecting the upper and lower canals, and large enough to enclose one or more boats. The position of the chamber is fixed, but its level can vary
28.
Moveable bridge
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A moveable bridge, or movable bridge, is a bridge that moves to allow passage for boats or barges. An advantage of making bridges moveable is the lower cost, due to the absence of high piers, the principal disadvantage is that the traffic on the bridge must be halted when it is opened for passages. For seldom-used railroad bridges over busy channels, the bridge may be open and then closed for train passages. For small bridges, bridge movement may be enabled without the need for an engine, some bridges are operated by the users, especially those with a boat, others by a bridgeman, a few remotely using video-cameras and loudspeakers. Generally, the bridges are powered by motors, whether operating winches, gearing. While moveable bridges in their entirety may be long, the length of the moveable portion is restricted by engineering. There are often traffic lights for the road and water traffic, ninety-nine were killed and 100 were injured. Four crewmen, including the engineer and fireman, and 44 passengers died by drowning, september 22,1993 – Mobile, Alabama, US, In heavy fog and low visibility, a disoriented towboat pilot made a wrong turn and entered an un-navigable waterway. The rails kinked but did not break, so no fault was indicated for approaching trains, approximately 8 minutes later, an Amtrak train carrying 220 passengers derailed at the kinked portion of the rails, killing 47 and injuring 103 more. November 23,1996 – Kearny, New Jersey, US, An Amtrak passenger and mail train derailed crossing the Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River. Moveable Bridges in the British Isles NSW moveable bridges
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Vertical-lift bridge
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A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck. The vertical lift offers several benefits over other movable bridges such as the bascule, generally speaking they cost less to build for longer moveable spans. The counterweights in a lift are only required to be equal to the weight of the deck. As a result, heavier materials can be used in the deck, although most vertical-lift bridges use towers, each equipped with counterweights, some use hydraulic jacks located below the deck. An example is the 52-foot span bridge at St Paul Avenue in Milwaukee, another design used balance beams to lift the deck, with pivoting bascules located on the top of the lift towers. An example of this kind was built at La Salle in Illinois, the biggest disadvantage to the vertical-lift bridge is the height restriction for vessels passing under it. This is a result of the deck remaining suspended above the passageway, Ryde Bridge – road – Ryde, New South Wales – opened 1935, now permanently lowered Hexham Bridge – road – Hexham, New South Wales – opened 1952. In addition, there are also Bridges 13,17 and 18 on the Welland Recreational Waterway, however, these bridges have not been operational since 1973. Bridges 13 and 18 have had their counterweights removed while the machinery for Bridge 17 has been dismantled, in addition, Bridge 18 no longer possesses its towers, they were removed for ease of maintenance. Burlington Canal Lift Bridge, over the Burlington Canal, Burlington, information is available from Built 1962. Second Narrows Bridge Vancouver, BC over Burrard Inlet, Okanagan Lake Bridge in Kelowna, BC across Okanagan Lake – replaced in 2008. Shippagan Bridge Shippagan, NB over Shippagan Bay, sir Ambrose Shea Bridge, Placentia, NL. Pont Gustave-Flaubert – crossing the Seine at Rouen, this bridge is the highest vertical-lift bridge in Europe. It is 670 m long, with a span of 116 metres, a striking design feature, the two road sections are mounted outside the central towers. The bridge was designed by François Gillard and Aymeric Zublena and opened to traffic on 25 September 2008. It is named after the author Gustave Flaubert who was born in Rouen, the central lift span is 117m long and can be lifted vertically up to 53m to let tall ships pass underneath. The bridge is 575m long with the lift span weighing around 2,600 tonnes. Its width varies from 32 to 45m and it will be used by cars, trams, cyclists and it can handle 43,000 vehicles a day and will reduce traffic congestion in Bordeaux
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Seawaymax
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Seawaymax vessels are 740 feet in length,78 feet wide, and have a draft of 26.51 feet and a height above the waterline of 35.5 metres. A number of lake freighters larger than this size cruise the Great Lakes, the size of the locks limits the size of the ships which can pass and so limits the size of the cargoes they can carry. The record tonnage for one vessel on the Seaway is 28,502 tons of iron ore while the record through the locks of the Great Lakes Waterway is 72,351 tons. Most new lake vessels, however, are constructed to the Seawaymax limit to enhance versatility by allowing the possibility of off-Lakes use, SS Edmund Fitzgerald, famous for her wreck in 1975, was the first ship constructed close to Seawaymax size
31.
Portage
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Portage or portaging is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A place where this occurs is also called a portage. Early French explorers in New France and French Louisiana encountered many rapids, the Native Americans carried their canoes over land to avoid river obstacles. Over time, important portages were sometimes provided with canals with locks, primitive portaging generally involves carrying the vessel and its contents across the portage in multiple trips. Small canoes can be portaged by carrying them inverted over ones shoulders, historically, voyageurs often employed tump lines on their heads to carry loads on their backs. Portages can be many kilometers in length, such as the 19-kilometre Methye Portage, some portages involve very little elevation change, such as the very short Mavis Grind in Shetland, which crosses an isthmus. This section deals mostly with the freight canoes used by the Canadian Voyageurs. Portage trails usually began as animal tracks and were improved by tramping or blazing, in a few places iron-plated wooden rails were laid to take a handcart. Heavily used routes sometimes evolved into roads when sledges, rollers or oxen were used, sometimes railways or canals were built. If the second course were chosen, the boat would be controlled by the avant standing in front with a long paddle, the avant had a better view and was in charge but the gouvernail had more control over the boat. The other canoemen provided power under the instructions of the avant, going upstream was more difficult, as there were many places where the current was too swift to paddle. Where the river bottom was shallow and firm, voyageurs would stand in the canoe and push it upstream with 3-metre poles. If the shoreline was reasonably clear the canoe could be tracked or lined, that is, in worse conditions, the demi-chargé technique was used. Half the cargo was unloaded, the canoe forced upstream, unloaded, in still worse currents, the entire cargo was unloaded and carried overland while the canoe was forced upstream. In the worst case a full portage was necessary, the canoe was carried overland by two or four men The cargo was divided into standard 41-kilogram packs or pièces with each man responsible for about six. One pack would be carried by a tumpline and one on the back, to allow regular rests the voyageur would drop his pack at a pose about every 1 kilometre and go back for the next load. The time for a portage was estimated at one hour per half mile, the Diolkos was a paved trackway in Ancient Greece which enabled boats to be moved overland across the Isthmus of Corinth between the Gulf of Corinth and the Saronic Gulf. It was constructed to high ranking Despots to conduct business in the justice system
32.
Chippawa, Ontario
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Chippawa is a community located within the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario. The village was founded in 1850, and became part of the City of Niagara Falls and it is located on the Canadian shore of the Niagara River about 2 km upstream from Niagara Falls. It is bisected by the Welland River, in historic documents, the name of the village and the river is sometimes spelled as Chippewa or Chippeway. While the area has undoubtedly been populated by First Nations people for thousands of years. Eventually, however, the Neutral nation was wiped out by the Iroquois, once Niagara-On-The-Lake filled up with United Empire Loyalists the British began giving land grants to U. E. L and British veterans to settle in the late 18th century. The first permanent settler of European descent in what is now Chippawa was Thomas Cummings and he was a United Empire Loyalist from Albany, New York who settled on the south side of the Welland River in 1783. Later that same year, John Burch settled on the side of the Welland River. A fort was built in 1791 to defend the end of the Portage Road. This was also known as Fort Welland and consisted of a log blockhouse surrounded by a stockade. A plain at Usshers Creek was the site of the Battle of Chippawa on July 5,1814, after the War of 1812, Chippawa also became the home of Laura Secord, remembered for carrying information to the British regarding American advances before the Battle of Beaverdams. She lived in the village until her death at the age of 93, Chippawa is the limit of navigation on the Upper Niagara River. Before the construction of the Welland Canal, all cargo and passengers had to be unloaded and carried overland to navigable waters below the falls in order to reach Lake Ontario, before the War of American Independence, all cargo was carried on the American side of the river. Following this, British interests required a route within their territory, a survey conducted in 1790 reserved a strip one chain wide between Chippawa and Queenston, Ontario as a public road, which would become the Portage Road. Most of this remains today, following its original winding route in contrast to the rectangular grid of other Niagara Falls streets. Kings Bridge, constructed about 1790, was the very first bridge over the Welland River and it was located at the mouth of the river, closer to the Niagara than todays bridge. Sketches by Lady Simcoe and deputy postmaster George Heriot each show a bridge consisting of pilings driven into the river with a wooden deck, the bridge was of great military importance as the only one crossing of the river. A survey available in the Brock University Special Collections indicates that this was a drawbridge and this survey also shows a new bridge constructed at the location of the current one. During the first several years that the Welland Canal operated, it did not reach Lake Erie directly, all canal traffic was lowered in a lock at Port Robinson, Ontario to the Welland River, and subsequently sailed to Chippawa, reaching Lake Erie via the Niagara River
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Queenston, Ontario
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Queenston is a Compact Rural Community and unincorporated place 5 kilometres north of Niagara Falls in the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. Across the river and the Canada–US border is the village of Lewiston, the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge links the two communities. Queenston was first settled in the 1770s by United Empire Loyalist refugees, during the War of 1812, British, Mohawk and Canadian colonial troops repelled an American invasion force here in the Battle of Queenston Heights. Nearby is a monument to Brocks gray horse, Alfred. It was also the home of Laura Secord, a Canadian heroine of the 1812 war, riverBrink Art Museum is also in Queenston. It is home to a collection of over 1,400 artworks and artefacts by Canadian and international artists. Completed in 1970, the building features Georgian-style architecture, including a mansard roof and it served as Weirs country residence, and was converted into an art museum following his death in 1981. This village is at the point where the Niagara River began eroding the Niagara Escarpment, during the ensuing 12,000 years the Falls cut an 11 kilometres long gorge in the Escarpment southward to its present-day position. In the early 19th century, the name was spelled as Queenstown. Queenston marks the terminus of the Bruce Trail. The cairn marking the terminus is in a parking lot. Joint Support Ship Project will be named Queenston-Class and one ship as HMCS Queenston to commemorate the site of the battle at Queenston
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Niagara River
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The Niagara River is a river that flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States, there are differing theories as to the origin of the rivers name. According to George R. Stewart, it comes from the name of an Iroquois town called Ongniaahra, the river, which is occasionally described as a strait, is about 58 kilometres long and includes Niagara Falls in its course. The falls have moved approximately 11 kilometres upstream from the Niagara Escarpment in the last 12,000 years, today, the diversion of the river for electrical generation has significantly reduced the rate of erosion. Power plants on the river include the Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Power Stations on the Canadian side, together, they generate 4.4 gigawatts of electricity. The International Control Works, built in 1954, regulates the river flow, ships on the Great Lakes use the Welland Canal, part of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, on the Canadian side of the river, to bypass Niagara Falls. The total drop in elevation along the river is 99 metres, the Niagara Gorge extends downstream from the Falls and includes the Niagara Whirlpool and another section of rapids. The Niagara River also features two large islands and numerous smaller islands, grand Island and Navy Island, the two largest islands, are on the American and Canadian sides of the river, respectively. Goat Island and the tiny Luna Island split Niagara Falls into its three sections, the Horseshoe Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, and American Falls, unity Island lies further upstream, alongside the city of Buffalo. The Niagara River and its tributaries, Tonawanda Creek and the Welland River, formed part of the last section of the Erie Canal, after leaving Lockport, New York, the Erie Canal proceeds southwest until it enters Tonawanda Creek. The Welland Canals used the Welland River as a connection to the Niagara River south of the falls, allowing traffic to safely re-enter the Niagara River. The Niagara River and Falls have been known outside of North America since the late 17th century, when Father Louis Hennepin and he wrote about his travels in A New Discovery of a Vast Country in America. The Niagara River was the site of the earliest recorded railway in America and it was an inclined wooden tramway built by John Montresor, a British military engineer, in 1764. Called The Cradles and The Old Lewiston Incline, it featured loaded carts pulled up wooden rails by rope and it facilitated the movement of goods over the Niagara Escarpment in present-day Lewiston, New York. Several battles occurred along the Niagara River, which was defended by Fort George and Fort Niagara at the mouth of the river. These forts were important during the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War, the Battle of Queenston Heights took place near the river in the War of 1812. The river was an important route to liberation before the American Civil War, the Freedom Crossing Monument stands on the bank of the river in Lewiston to commemorate the courage of the escaping slaves and the local volunteers who helped them secretly cross the river. In the 1880s, the Niagara River became the first waterway in North America harnessed for large-scale generation of hydroelectricity
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First Welland Canal
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The Welland Canal has gone through many incarnations in its history. Today, five distinct canal-construction efforts are recognized, the retronym First Welland Canal is applied to the original canal, constructed from 1824 to 1829 and 1831 to 1833. The Great Lakes form an excellent navigation route into the interior of North America, downstream from Niagara Falls, ships can reach the port city of Montreal without encountering major difficulties. Upstream, the lakes are all the way to the western end of Lake Superior. The Niagara Falls stood as a mighty barrier, to bypass it, a portage road between Queenston, Ontario and Chippawa was used, but the solution was far from optimal. The cargo had to be unloaded, carried 18 km up the Niagara Escarpment, the relatively narrow Niagara Peninsula, situated between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, was a natural match to the idea of bypassing the Falls. Hamiltons plan called for a canal to be constructed between Fort Erie and, perhaps unsurprisingly, Queenston, in 1816, a young man called William Hamilton Merritt bought a rundown sawmill on the Twelve Mile Creek, and added a grist mill and a store. The Twelve flowed from its south of the Escarpment to Lake Ontario. In 1818, when the flow was low, Merritt pursued the idea of bringing water to his mills from the Welland River. On a bigger scale, the Erie Canal, dug from the Hudson River through northern New York, was about to reach Lake Erie. The impending completion meant the cargo from upper Great Lakes was about to head down the canal and Hudson River to New York City, bypassing its previous destination, at the time, a considerable rivalry existed between Montreal and New York for cargo headed to Europe via ocean-going vessels. All of these contributed to the construction of the Welland Canal. In 1818, William Hamilton Merritt borrowed an instrument called a level from Samuel Beckett. Along with George Keefer, John DeCew, and a couple of other neighbours he set out to survey a route for a water canal. From the headwaters of the Twelve Mile Creek near present-day Allanburg, a ridge was encountered along the way, and using the instrument, the surveyors calculated it to be 10 meters high. It was actually double that height, the reason for the error is not known, on July 4,1818, Merritt organized a meeting in St. Catharines. The outcome was a sent to Upper Canada Legislature to provide for construction of a canal between the Twelve Mile Creek and Welland River. Unlike Merritts original water-canal plan, the petition included plans for allowing boats to cross the Niagara Escarpment, in 1823, Hiram Tibbetts, an engineer, was employed to make a formal survey for the route
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William Hamilton Merritt
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William Hamilton Merritt was an influential figure in the Niagara Peninsula of Upper Canada in early 19th century and one of the fathers of the Welland Canal. Merritt was born in Bedford in Westchester County, New York on July 3,1793 and his father, Thomas, fought as a United Empire Loyalist in the American Revolutionary War. After the revolution, the family resided in New Brunswick before returning to the U. S, in 1795, they moved to Upper Canada, settling on the Niagara Peninsula on the Twelve Mile Creek. Merritt attended school in Burlington, Ontario, studying mathematics and field surveying, afterwards, he became a partner in a store at Shipmans Corners. Just before the War of 1812, he sold his interest in the store, during the war, he joined the Second Lincoln Militia, stationed at Chippawa. He was a captain and leader of the volunteer dragoons throughout the war, during constant patrols along the Niagara River, an idea came to him for a canal to by-pass the Niagara Falls. He was captured during Battle of Lundys Lane and held prisoner of war in Massachusetts until March 1815, after the war, Merritt purchased 25 acres at Shipmans Corners, where he built a house and a store. He also sold goods in Niagara and Queenston, in 1816, he bought a rundown sawmill on the Twelve Mile Creek, and added a grist mill and a store. His property had a spring, and Merritt began to manufacture salt at a time when it was still expensive. The water levels in the creek varied considerably, creating difficulties for Merritt, in 1818, when the flow was especially low, Merritt pursued the idea of bringing water to his mills from the Chippawa Creek. However, it is Merritt, and indirectly the lack of water for his mills, on July 4,1818, Merritt organized a meeting in St. Catharines. The outcome was a sent to Upper Canada Legislature to provide for construction of a canal between the Twelve Mile Creek and Chippawa Creek. Unlike Merritts original water-canal plan, the petition included plans for allowing boats to cross the Niagara Escarpment, on January 19,1824, an act of the Legislature formed the Welland Canal Company, with a capitalization of $150,000 and Merritt as the financial agent. As part of his duties, he travelled extensively, including the United States. He recruited Alfred Barrett as the engineer on the project. Later, Merritt served in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada from 1832 to 1841 for Haldimand County, after the unification of Upper and Lower Canadas, he served in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from 1841 to 1860 for Lincoln County. He supported free trade policies and transportation projects, including the first steel bridge over the Niagara River. In 1860, he was elected to the Legislative Council in the Niagara Division, in 1844, the residents of a community on the Welland Canal named Aqueduct, renamed their village Merrittsville to acknowledge the role of William Hamilton Merritts enterprise in founding the hamlet
37.
Watermill
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A watermill or water mill is a mill that utilizes hydropower. It is a structure that uses a wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling, rolling. Such processes are needed in the production of material goods, including flour, lumber, paper, textiles. Thus watermills may be comprise gristmills, sawmills, paper mills, textile mills, hammermills, trip hammering mills, rolling mills, wire drawing mills. The former type can be divided, depending on where the water hits the wheel paddles, into undershot, overshot, breastshot. Another way to water mills is by an essential trait about their location, tide mills use the movement of the tide. The earliest evidence of a wheel is probably the Perachora wheel. The earliest written reference is in the technical treatises Pneumatica and Parasceuastica of the Greek engineer Philo of Byzantium, the British historian of technology M. J. T. The sakia gear is, already developed, for the first time attested in a 2nd-century BC Hellenistic wall painting in Ptolemaic Egypt. The Greek geographer Strabon reports in his Geography a water-powered grain-mill to have existed near the palace of king Mithradates VI Eupator at Cabira, Asia Minor, before 71 BC. The Roman engineer Vitruvius has the first technical description of a watermill, dated to 40/10 BC and he also seems to indicate the existence of water-powered kneading machines. The Greek epigrammatist Antipater of Thessalonica tells of an overshot wheel mill around 20 BC/10 AD. He praised for its use in grinding grain and the reduction of human labour, Hold back your hand from the mill, you grinding girls, even if the cockcrow heralds the dawn, sleep on. If we learn to feast toil-free on the fruits of the earth, the Roman encyclopedist Pliny mentions in his Naturalis Historia of around 70 AD water-powered trip hammers operating in the greater part of Italy. There is evidence of a mill in 73/4 AD in Antioch. It is likely that a stamp mill was used at Dolaucothi to crush gold-bearing quartz. The stamps were operated as a batch of four working against a large conglomerate block, similar anvil stones have been found at other Roman mines across Europe, especially in Spain and Portugal. The 1st-century AD multiple mill complex of Barbegal in southern France has been described as the greatest known concentration of power in the ancient world
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Twelve Mile Creek (Ontario)
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Twelve Mile Crick is a waterway located on the Niagara Peninsula in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. Its headwaters are located in the town of Pelham, encompassing some of the most unspoiled, the creeks lower reaches flow through urban areas of Thorold and St. Catharines, and have been heavily altered by human activity for almost two centuries. Twelve Mile Creek is named because its outlet to Lake Ontario is located approximately 12 miles from the Niagara River and it drains a watershed of approximately 178 square kilometres. The area containing the headwaters is known as the Fonthill Kame Delta Complex and was formed from debris left behind by glaciers as they retreated approximately 12000 years ago and this area has the highest elevation, and contains the only identified cold water streams identified in the Niagara region. The area provides habitat for bird species, including Acadian flycatcher, hooded warbler, Louisiana waterthrush. Lake Gibson is not a feature, but rather an artificially created reservoir. Township maps from the half of the 19th century show a meandering stream flowing through this area. This is the site of Morningstar Mill who used this stream for power and this stream was subsequently dammed to provide a reservoir for hydroelectric generation at the Decew Falls Generation Station. The landscape was altered with various channels and canals to improve flow to the generating station. Lake Gibson receives almost all of its supply from Lake Erie via the Welland Canal. It is about 10.5 km in length and it combines with Francis Creek and empties into the Twelve Mile Creek at Martindale Pond, very close to its outlet. These two sub-watersheds therefore do not contribute to water flow on the majority of the Twelve Mile Creek. The Dicks Creek sub-watershed originates near the escarpment in a residential area and it flows through the abandoned second Welland Canal, passing through the stone locks which once carried ships, before entering a tunnel. It emerges from the tunnel and joins with the branch of the Twelve Mile Creek immediately beside Highway 406. The lower portion of Twelve Mile Creek, while historically navigable as part of the second Welland Canal, is now a fast flowing river with rapids and a wide, swift water course. Almost all of the water in this portion of the creek is from the Welland Canal by way of the Decew Falls generating stations, the creek empties into Martindale Pond - a small artificial lake near the shores of Lake Ontario created to permit navigation on the first Welland Canal. This body of water also served as the route for the second and third canals and remains of locks from the second, Martindale Pond is now the site of the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta course. The water flows over a weir into Port Dalhousie harbour, in the period following the War of 1812, assorted mills made use of water power from various creeks which flowed over Niagara Escarpment
39.
Thorold
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Thorold is a city in Ontario, Canada, located on the Niagara Escarpment. It is also the seat of the Regional Municipality of Niagara, the Welland Canal passes through the heart of the city, and the Twin Flight Locks, located downtown, attract thousands of tourists annually. The first survey of Thorold, or Township 9 as it was known then, Thorold, located on the brow of the Niagara Escarpment, soon became dominant and was incorporated as a village in 1850 and as a town in 1870. When the Regional Municipality of Niagara was formed in 1970, the Town of Thorold expanded to include the former Thorold Township, in 1975 the town became incorporated as the City of Thorold. Decew House, on DeCew Road, was constructed in the late 18th century as a home for British Captain John B and it served as the areas British headquarters during the War of 1812. On June 22,1813, Laura Secord journeyed from Queenston to DeCew House to warn Lieutenant James FitzGibbon of an impending American attack, FitzGibbon and his men were able to capture the American force and help turn the tide of the war. The house was destroyed by fire in 1950 but the site is commemorated by the rebuilt foundation, the Old Fire Hall, at 12 Albert Street West, was constructed next to the Second Welland Canal in 1878. This building once housed Thorolds police force and, to this day, for many years, the fire bell tolled for the towns strictly enforced nine oclock curfew. The Old Firehall was designed by the architect John Latshaw and built for $2,483 and it has a combination bell tower and hose tower, yellow and red brickwork, semi-circular wood windows, and a circular wood window in the gable end at the tower. Decorative yellow brick arches frame each window, the bell which hung in its tower remained in use until 1964, when the fire department moved into its new hall on nearby Towpath Street. In 1967 the old bell was installed outside the new firehall, the Old Hall was used as the Thorold YMCA for several years thereafter. Chestnut Hall, at 14 Ormond Street North, is a carefully restored 1862 building that was home to John McDonagh. Chestnut Hall currently houses the Thorold & Beaverdams Historical Society, in addition to the Thorold Museum, St. Johns School House, on Hollow Road, is a single-room wooden school house located in the west portion of Thorold. Opening in 1804, it was the first free school in Upper Canada, the first teacher at the school was Samuel Birdsall. The enrolment in 1826 was recorded as 29 students, the building was fully restored in 1974. Maplehurst, at 14 Saint Davids Road West, is a Thorold landmark, the mansion sits on the highest rise in the city offering a commanding view of the community below. Built by Hugh Keefer in 1885, this red stone structure with elaborate gables and dormers has been used in the past as a residence, a hospital. Maplehurst was recently restored to its condition and is currently known as the Keefer Mansion
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Allanburg, Ontario
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Allanburg is a community within the City of Thorold, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Welland Canal and Highway 20, both important transportation routes through the Niagara Peninsula, the two cross at a vertical-lift bridge, numbered as Bridge 11 by the Saint Lawrence Seaway Authority, but often known simply as the Allanburg Bridge. The collision of the ship Windoc with the bridge made national news in 2001, the original sod-turning ceremony for the construction of the First Welland Canal took place in the area on November 30,1824. Today, a cairn at the west approach to the bridge commemorates the event. At approximately 20,54 on August 11,2001, the carrier vessel Windoc struck the descending Allanburg lift bridge. The ships wheelhouse and funnel were ripped off in the collision, uncontrollable, the vessel drifted downstream and ran aground 800 m from the bridge. Fire fighting units from throughout Niagara Region were involved in the efforts to put out the fire, there was no loss of life. The master and third officer were able to escape the wheelhouse before its destruction, the wheelsman remained in the wheelhouse and survived the collision by lying on the deck until the bridge span passed overhead. The canal reopened to shipping two days later, but the bridge remained locked in a position while engineers studied and repaired the structure. Road traffic through central Niagara was left in chaos, as the number of canal crossings is limited. Detours were set up to travel through the Thorold Tunnel north of Allanburg, eventually, the damage to the bridge was found to be minor and repaired. Windoc has sat in the port of Montreal ever since, inoperable, later, an investigation found that the impaired bridge operator lowered the bridge before the ship had cleared the span
41.
Ontario Highway 20
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Kings Highway 20, commonly referred to as Highway 20, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. Highway 20 was first designated in 1930, serving as a bypass to the congested Highway 8, soon after, a new cut was made into the Niagara Escarpment south of Stoney Creek, which would serve Highway 20 for 66 years. However, the new route failed to divert a significant amount of traffic from Highway 8, subsequently, the Queen Elizabeth Way was constructed through the Niagara Peninsula between 1937 and 1940. The opening of the Burlington Bay Skyway in 1958 bypassed the routing of Highway 20, the routing remained unchanged between then and 1998, when all but a short stub of the highway was transferred to regional jurisdiction. While today Highway 20 is a mere 1, the remaining portion of the highway is mostly rural in nature, although numerous motels line the short stretch of roadway, reminiscent of a bygone era. It begins at a intersection with Highway 58, which proceeds north. Moving eastward, the majority of line the south side of the highway, as do several residences. At Thorold Townline Road, Highway 20 ends while the roadway continues eastward into the city of Niagara Falls as Lundys Lane, Lundys Lane is named for William Lundy, a United Empire Loyalist and local settler in the Niagara area. During the 1960s and 1970s, Lundys Lane attracted a concentration of businesses which catered to automobile travellers, however, a significant number of these businesses faded away along with the automobile age. Highway 20 was first designated on March 12,1930, with its terminus at the intersection of Highway 8. It proceeded south along John Street, concurrently with Highway 6, to the foot of the Niagara Escarpment, Highway 20 climbed the escarpment through the Jolley Cut, while Highway 6 used the Claremont Access. At the top, Highway 20 proceeded east along Concession Street, from there, the route turned east and followed Rymal Road to Elfrida and onwards to its eastern terminus at the Honeymoon Bridge Niagara Falls. Soon thereafter, the Department of Highways began to excavate a new cut into the escarpment between Elfrida and Stoney Creek, the highway descended the escarpment along the now-closed Glover Mountain Road, which connected the modern Greenhill Avenue with First Road. Highway 8A meanwhile, proceeded north from Stoney Creek to Burlington via Burlington Beach, at the same time, the highway was shifted from Glover Mountain Road to the new Centennial Parkway. Between Welland and Niagara Falls, Highway 3 originally followed the Merrittville Highway and Lundys Lane to the Honeymoon Bridge, in 1929, the two route numbers were switched, as traffic pattern had shifted to make use of the new Peace Bridge. After Highway 20 was designated, the Highway 3A designation was superseded between Allanburg and Niagara Falls, between Hamilton and Welland, several major diversions were constructed during the 1930s, including west of Elfrida, east of Kimbo and around St. Anns. Highway 20 was now 85.8 km, its peak length, both the QEW and Highway 20 crossed the entrance to Hamilton Harbour utilizing a four lane lift bridge. However, this became one of the two major bottlenecks along the new superhighway
42.
Port Dalhousie, Ontario
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Port Dalhousie /dəˈluːzi/ is a community in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is known for its waterfront appeal and it is also home to the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta and is historically significant as the terminus for the first three routes of the Welland Canal, built in 1820,1845 and 1889. The citys most popular beach, on the shore of Lake Ontario, is located in Port Dalhousie at historic Lakeside Park, the park is home to an antique carousel which was carved by Charles I. D. Looff in 1905 and brought to St. Catharines in 1921. It continues to provide amusement for young and old alike, at just 5 cents a ride, the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta, on Martindale Pond, has been happening for almost 100 years. Port Dalhousie is named for George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie, Dalhousie also gave his name to Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and to the town of Dalhousie, New Brunswick. Dalhousie pronounced his name dal-HOW-zee during his time, all of his namesakes carry this pronunciation except Port Dalhousie, which is pronounced duh-LOO-zee. It is said that this is a result of the accent of the Scottish sailors and shipbuilders who frequented the Ports establishments. ca - Port Dalhousie
43.
Merritton, St. Catharines
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Merritton is both a distinct community within and a council ward of St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It was named after William Hamilton Merritt, a prominent local entrepreneur, until 1858, Merritton was named Welland City, but exchanged names that year with Merrittsville, when that town became the seat of Welland county. Merritton is often referred to as The Heart of St. Catharines, prior to amalgamation in 1960 which saw the original city of St. Catharines absorb several satellite towns, Merritton was a separate entity. To this day, residents maintain a sense of community identity. The original town hall, on Merritt St. once the City of St. Catharines Museum, is now home to the St. Catharines Seniors Centre and it is also home to one of St. Catharines arenas, and a Community Centre. As a former center on the Welland Canal, Merritton retains a small yet impressive number of heritage sites. The area has undergone a major infrastructure facelift involving the re-alignment of Glendale Avenue and it is also experiencing a significant increase in residential construction, especially on property designated as brownfield by the city. The Merritton Website Merritton community website
44.
Port Robinson, Ontario
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Port Robinson is a small community in the southernmost part of Thorold, Ontario, Canada. The community is divided in half by the Welland Canal, as there is no bridge in the vicinity to connect the two halves of the community. In the summer, a free ferry for pedestrians and cyclists runs across the canal. In the winter, residents must use the bridge on Highway 20, like all the ports on the first Welland Canal, Port Robinson was named after a member of the Family Compact that once ruled Upper Canada, as Ontario was then named. Sir John Beverly Robinson was Attorney General of Upper Canada at the time the first Canal was built, Bridge St in Port Robinson was originally linked by a vertical lift bridge, numbered as Bridge 12 by the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority. On August 25,1974, the 600-foot ore carrier Steelton, travelling northbound on the canal, struck, the east tower of the bridge toppled over, while the west tower collapsed in on itself. The bridge span was pushed into the water, severely deformed, the damage to the bridge was estimated as between $15 and $20 million. It was scrapped in its entirety, the removal of the towers from the canal, especially the counterweights, necessitated the use of a special heavy-duty floating crane. The canal was closed until September 9 for the repairs, the Steelton suffered damage to its bow and pilot house, estimated at about $1 million. The repairs were made at Port Colborne, at the terminus of the Welland Canal. There was no loss of life, the bridge master, Albert Beaver, and a watchman on the ship suffered minor injuries. The ensuing investigation concluded that the failed to blow the whistle to signal its approach. After the accident, rebuilding the bridge or building a tunnel to replace it was considered, in the end, it was concluded that the volume of local vehicular traffic was not sufficient to warrant such an expense. Instead, a ferry service was launched in early 1977. The ferry can transport people and bicycles, but is not big enough for cars, in 2015, amid debate about discontinuing the ferry, it was estimated that the ferry carries 2000 pedestrians and 6000 touring cyclists per year. A similar accident occurred at Bridge 11 in Allanburg in 2001 and that bridge was lowered onto the passing bulk carrier Windoc, which afterwards caught fire. The ship was a loss, but no injuries were reported. While repairs were underway, Port Robinson residents wishing to travel by car to other side of the community had to drive farther than usual to use the Main Street Tunnel in Welland
45.
Welland River
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It drains an area of 880 square kilometres. The river was called the Chippawa Creek since it drained into Niagara River at Chippawa. Like many other places in Niagara, it was renamed by John Graves Simcoe, the present name is taken from River Welland in Lincolnshire in eastern England. The river is occasionally referred to as Chippawa Creek, especially by those in the Chippawa area itself. The Welland Canal was named after the river since it originally was planned to link Lake Ontario to Welland River, the city of Welland, Ontario was later named after both waterways, which cross in the city. The river flows under two navigable aqueducts, the Welland Recreational Waterway and the new alignment of the Welland Canal, an important tributary of the river is Coyle Creek, a picturesque and thickly forested creek that flows into the river on the north bank. The oldest structure spanning the river was OReillys Bridge, which was built in 1901, the settler, Patrick OReilly, son of Sgt. John Reilly, of Stamford Township, settled in Wainfleet in 1806, after Meeting the daughter, Sarah, of John Brown of Pelham Township Patrick OReilly felled a couple of very tall trees across the River to shorten his journey to see her. A better bridge was built after they married and Patrick realized Sarah was frightened of walking along the logs, John Brown OReilly was their son who acted as Clerk of Wainfleet Township for many years. OReillys Bridge was demolished in 2010 and was replaced with a more modern, hydroelectric generation activities in the Niagara Falls region actually cause the flow in the lower section of this river to reverse, as seen in this satellite picture. List of rivers of Ontario Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority Welland River Keepers
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Welland
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Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. The city is in the centre of Niagara, within a half-hour, residents can travel to Niagara Falls, Niagara-On-The-Lake, St. Catharines, Port Colborne and Buffalo. The city is separated by the Welland River and Welland Canal which links Lake Erie, Welland is the home of C Company of The Lincoln and Welland Regiment which is part of 32 Canadian Brigade Group, the classification of this unit is Light Infantry. Wellands nickname is The Rose City, the city was settled in 1788 by the United Empire Loyalists. After an intense skirmish, the Americans retreated to Buffalo, New York, Cooks Mills was the second to last engagement of the War of 1812 on Canadian soil. The Welland Canal has been involved in the history since the First Welland Canal was extended to reach Lake Erie in 1833. A wooden aqueduct was built to carry the Welland Canal over the Welland River at what is now downtown Welland, a lock to cross from the canal to the river and vice versa was also built. A small shantytown soon developed around the facility, providing services in what was a convenient stop-over location. The growing town was later named Merrittsville, after William Hamilton Merritt and this name is still reflected in the name of the Merrittville Highway, which served as the primary north-south route in central Niagara before the construction of Highway 406. Welland gained its present name when it was incorporated on July 25,1858 and it became a city in 1917. In addition to the presence of the canal, one of the few railway crossings across the canal was near Welland, the two factors contributed to the development of heavy industry in Welland. The Plymouth Cordage Company was the first major company to open a plant in Welland in 1906. By the 1930s, Welland was an important industry location in the region and was developing rapidly, in the 1960s, the city was starting to outgrow the canal passing through its core. The Welland By-Pass project, started in 1967 and finished in 1973, provided a new, with the completion of the bypass, Wellands east end became a virtual man-made island between the new and old canal channels. Originally, this was viewed with enthusiasm as the constant traffic was interfering heavily with transportation within the city. The canals old alignment was renamed the Welland Recreational Waterway with the purpose of developing several recreational facilities, the original plans called for fishing platforms, water slides, boat rental points, as well as marine and rail historical exhibits. The effects of the relocation were compounded by the gradual. As a result, there was much deterioration in downtown Welland in the immediately after the project
