A major segment of the economy of the greater Montreal area and much of Ontario depends on international marine transport involving the container ship terminal at the Port of Montreal. However, declining water levels in the river systems that lie upstream of Montreal have the potential to adversely impact commercial marine operations along the Lower St Lawrence River to the east of Montreal. Recent measurements of water levels taken at Montreal suggest that the present day levels are 6-feet or 2-meters below the levels measured at Montreal over 100-years ago.

Water level measurements taken at various intervals over several years along the Ottawa River, the Upper St Lawrence River to the west of Montreal as well as at various locations around The Great Lakes suggest that changing weather patterns and lower water levels may occur over the long-term. Lower water levels have impeded commercial marine operations between the Great Lakes as well as along the Upper St Lawrence River, resulting in ships carrying partial loads in order to achieve the necessary draft clearance. Part-load operation reduces the viability of commercial marine operations.

The commercial marine industry has long known that larger ships that carry greater payload are more viable to operate than larger fleets of smaller ships. This fact of marine transport has led to the development of larger oil tankers and the larger Panamax-2 series of container ships. There is a credible long-term business case to be made for accommodating larger container ships at the Port of Montreal.

Declining water levels in the rivers that lie upstream of Montreal require that modifications be made to the Lower St Lawrence River to sustain international commercial marine operations to/from Montreal prior to the river being deep-dredged to allow passage to deep-draft marine vessels. Such modifications are likely to help maintain navigation along the Upper St Lawrence River into Lake Ontario and when combined with possible initiatives that involve the power industry, would allow ships to access ports around Lake Erie, Windsor and Detroit during times of reduced river flow volume.

The Great Lakes may be compared to a gigantic water tank and the Lower St Lawrence River to an outlet pipe that is without a control valve. The addition of one or more “control valves” along the Lower St Lawrence River could ensure navigable deep-draft water depth at the Port of Montreal during a period of declining water flow volumes in the Upper St Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers. Such modifications would simultaneously increase navigable water depth with reduced water flow volume to ensure sustained international ship traffic along the Lower St Lawrence River.

Conserving Water east of Montreal:

While there are a variety of methods by which to conserve water along the Lower St Lawrence River, few alternatives would likely be acceptable politically, environmentally and commercially. One potentially applicable method was developed over 1000-years ago by the engineers of the Mayan empire. They built submerged rock dams or breakwaters at regular intervals along the tributaries of the headwaters of many large rivers as a way to reduce flooding at the lower elevations where the Mayans grew food crops.

The precedent of the Mayan engineers provides scale model that can be applied to a much larger river. Modern engineers build scale models of rivers to test concepts and ideas before actual construction begins. The Mayan engineers have already done much of the essential preliminary work that may be combined with features that already exist along the Lower St Lawrence River, at the channels formed the by Sorel Islands (Iles de Sorel) located to the north of Sorel, Quebec.

Channels at Sorel:

There is potential to reduce water flow volume through several channels formed by islands in the Lower St Lawrence River at Sorel, where it may be possible to build submerged breakwaters or rock dams that may provide passage to a variety of recreational watercraft. The main navigation channel may be deepened to allow passage to deep-draft vessels. There would be potential to install pairs of submerged, ballast-operated hydraulic doors across upstream and downstream points of the navigation channel. Raised hydraulic doors would reduce both channel cross sectional area as well as water volume flow rate.

Submerged Hydraulic Doors:

The St Lawrence River pilots who navigate ships along sections of the St Lawrence River would direct and the control the operation of the submerged hydraulic doors. They may lower these doors to increase navigation depth across the doors as a ship approaches a narrow channel and raise the doors once a ship has passed through to reduce water depth above the doors. There are many possible designs of submerged hydraulic doors. One type of hydraulic door may pivot on a hinge secured to the river floor.

A combination of air ballast tanks and the force of the river current may keep the door raised with minimal navigation depth above the door. When additional navigation depth is required, water may be pumped into the ballast tanks and lateral foils may use the force of the river current to lower the hydraulic doors. A combination of submerged air-pressure lines and hydraulic (water) lines may connect the hydraulic doors to a point on the riverbank. Propellers attached to the hydraulic doors and driven by air pressure or by hydraulic (water) motors may assist in raising and lowering the hydraulic doors as needed.

European Lock Precedent:

There is a technique developed in smaller scale along the European barge canal system by which to reduce water flow-volume while granting passage to ships. It is the use of a side tank. When a ship enters a lock, water may flow from the side tank into the lock to raise the ship to higher elevation, or flow from the lock into the side channel to lower the elevation of the ship. When a ship moves downstream, water flows through a turbine that drives a water pump to transfer a percentage of water to higher elevation. Operational experience along the European barge canal systems indicates possible water savings of over 60% for each vessel that sails through. Over the long-term future, there may be the option of introducing elongated locks along the Lower St Lawrence River at Sorel.

Potential for Navigation Locks at Sorel:

There may be scope to develop a parallel navigation lock system at the channels at Sorel, a concept analogous to a double-track set of railway tracks. Using the precedent from the European barge canal system, water could flow between a north side lock and a south side lock near Sorel to grant passage to deep-draft ships while simultaneously conserving water. There may be scope to build elongated parallel locks at a future time between the channels at Sorel, with short locks at both ends. One or more of the remaining channels at Sorel may serve as reserve side tanks or holding reservoirs that would help to conserve water as ships sail through the navigation locks to/from Montreal.

While a single lock can allow passage to a single ship, an elongated lock could allow simultaneous passage for multiple ships and vessels. A pair of parallel locks can duplicate the operation of double tracked railway lines, where schedules and signals coordinate trains to travel in either direction on either track to increase the number of trains along the system. There may be scope to duplicate the double-tracked railway operational precedent along a pair of elongated parallel navigation locks to maximize the number of vessels and ships that may sail through while making very efficient use of river water.

The ability to conserve water at Sorel would ensure navigable water depth for large oceanic vessels that sail to and from the Port of Montreal. It is possible that the water savings measure could allow Hydro Quebec to install turbines at the locks at Sorel and pumping turbines at the hydroelectric power dam at Beauharnois, southwest of Montreal. During the overnight off-peak period, the pumping turbines would use available electric power to pump water into storage at higher elevation into Lake St Francis (Lac St Francois) during.

Such operation would also ensure passage for ships that sail the Upper St Lawrence River between Montreal and Lake Ontario. It could also allow for the development of an underground pumped hydraulic energy storage installation immediately downstream of the Moses-Saunders power dam, some 90-km to the west of the dam at Beauharnois. A major reduction of water flow volume at the channels at Iles de Sorel will reduce water flow volume downstream and require additional means by which to maintain water depth.

Submerged Locks at Trois Rivieres (Three Rivers):

The riverbed of the Lower St Lawrence River drops to below maritime sea level to the east of Sorel. There river narrows at the bridge at Trois Rivieres, Quebec, where it may be possible to introduce some Mayan hydraulic engineering precedent by installing submerged rock dams or breakwaters across the sections of channel that lie outside of the main ship navigation channels. A set of submerged breakwaters may be installed parallel to the flow direction of the river and immediately upriver of the bridge and form the walls of an underwater navigation lock.

Navigation buoys would float on the river surface immediately above the walls of the underwater locks to indicate the location of main navigation channels that may be deepened to provide passage for deep-draft ships. A pair of submerged, pilot-activated and ballast-operated hydraulic doors would be installed at the upstream and downstream ends of the submerged locks. While the channel depth across the river at Trois Rivieres may allow for unrestricted passage for shallow-draft and recreational watercraft, the hydraulic doors would lower to provide passage to large commercial vessels operated by St Lawrence River pilots.

Quebec City:

The installation of submerged breakwater dams plus submerged navigation locks upstream of bridge over the Lower St Lawrence River at Quebec City would ensure navigable water upstream. There may be need to install additional submerged breakwater dams and submerged navigation locks with guide buoys at additional points along the Lower St Lawrence River between Trois Rivieres and Quebec City, such as at Portneuf. The St Lawrence River Pilots Association may be able to provide valuable guidance as to the optimal locations as to where to regulate water flow using submerged breakwaters and submerged navigation locks.

East of Quebec City:

Downstream of Quebec City, there may be scope to install a submerged dam upstream of the bridge across Chenal de L’Ile D’Orleans (the Orleans Channel) and provide sufficient navigation depth to allow passage to recreational watercraft. Such a restriction would divert a greater percentage of the river water into the channel to the south of Ile D’Orleans (Chenal de Grands Voilliers). There may be scope to install a submerged breakwater plus a submerged navigation lock with upstream and downstream hydraulic doors in the channel between the southeastern side of Ile D’Orleans and Ile Madame.

It would be possible to restrict water flow volume in the Lower St Lawrence River to the east of Ile D’Orleans, by installing a submerged breakwater to the north of Montmagny between the eastern end of Ile Aux Ruaux and the southwestern end of L’Ile Aux Grues. Some of the material that is deep-dredged from the Lower St Lawrence River between Chenal de Grands Voilliers and a point in the river to the south of Tadousac, may be used to build the submerged breakwater. Deep-draft ships may either sail through the channel between Ile Madame and Ile D’Orleans or through the channel between Montmagny and the southwestern tip of L’Ile Aux Grues.

The combination of a riverbed that lies below maritime sea level and rising sea levels may partially compensate for reduced water flow rate through the river. It is possible to deep dredge navigation channels throughout the Lower St Lawrence River from Montreal to a point near Tadousac. The combination of deep-dredged navigation channels and slowly rising sea levels could provide passage for deep-draft ships to the Port of Montreal.

Spring-time Melting:

During the spring time of every year, ice and snow melts across the watershed region of the Great Lakes St Lawrence River. There may be the concern of spring flooding along the Lower St Lawrence River caused by the installation of submerged locks and submerged breakwaters. Over 1,000-years ago, the engineers of the Mayan empire developed a method by which to minimize the risk of downstream flooding, by building control dams along the headwaters and tributaries at higher elevation.

It may be possible that naturalists, biologists and environmentalists could entice beavers into building dams at strategic locations along these tributaries. There are numerous control dams built along the rivers that feed into the Great Lakes, into the Upper St Lawrence River and into the Ottawa River that could also restrict water flow volumes and reduce the risk of springtime flooding along the Lower St Lawrence River.

There has been research undertaken into pumped hydraulic energy storage at Niagara Falls, including seasonal hydraulic storage in Lake Erie. Plentiful wind energy blows over the 1600-islands along eastern Hudson and the west coast of Quebec during winter. A variety of technologies could convert that wind energy into electric power that may then be stored as pumped hydraulic energy at Lake Erie. There would a ready market during each following summer for the additional hydroelectric power that could be generated at Niagara Falls.

The sheer volume and water storage capacity of the Great Lakes would allow for very large volumes of water to be held back until after the springtime melting of snow and ice. At such time, a portion of the water that may temporarily be stored in the Great Lakes may slowly be released into the Upper St Lawrence River, at a flow rate that would minimize the threat of flooding along the Lower St Lawrence River. There is a very remote possibility of extraordinary weather conditions producing excess water levels across the Great Lakes.

There is the option of diverting such excess water into the Mississippi River and Illinois River during the summer, fall and winter months. Under such conditions, a portion of the Garrison Diversion plan may be implemented. There are multiple alternatives that may be applied upstream to minimize the potential for future flooding along the Lower St Lawrence River following the installation of technology that will simultaneously reduce river volumes while maintaining navigation for deep-draft ships.

Conclusions:

Major sectors of the economies of Quebec and Ontario depend on all-year international commercial marine operations along the Lower St Lawrence River and the Port of Montreal. During warm weather, much economic activity in Western Canada and the north-central USA also depends on commercial marine operations along both the Lower St Lawrence and Upper St Lawrence Rivers. Changing weather patterns have produced a simultaneous need to conserve potable water and use such water efficiently around the Great Lakes as well as the Upper and Lower St Lawrence Rivers plus the Ottawa River.

There are widespread benefits to modifying the Lower St Lawrence River to provide greater navigation depth to deep-draft vessels while simultaneously reducing water volume flow rate. While changing weather patterns may require the power industry to reduce hydroelectric output along the waterway between the Great Lakes to the Gulf of St Lawrence, maintain water depth during a period of reduced water flow allows the power industry to initiate grid-scale pumped hydraulic energy storage at numerous locations along the waterway, including seasonal energy storage at Lake Erie. It is possible that the changing weather patterns that have lowered water levels in the Great Lakes and St Lawrence River may be long-term.