St. Catharines. Niagara Region. Southwestern Ontario. .
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	Photo Credits: Mark Visser Information (11-05) Location: Welland Canals Parkway at Lock #4 About this tower: Built: In service since November 1932. Tank diameter: 7.6 m. Tank height: 21 m. Total tower height: 62 m. Riser: Riser from the penstock, 2.6 m. in diameter, is continued inside the tank by a pipe 2.3 m. in diameter. Water supply: Drawn by penstock from Lock #7. The penstock is 2.6 m. (8'-6") in diameter, is 2 km's long and has a static head at the pumphouse of 57 m. (compiled from information supplied by St. Catharines Lock 3 Museum) The surge tank is part of the St. Lawrence Seaway Welland Canal hydro generating station at Lock 4. The station is located next to the surge tower. All electrical power to operate the locks and lift bridges on the Welland Canal is generated by the this station. There are three turbo-generators with an installed capacity of 15,000 kilowatts.
The Welland Canal The Welland Canal crosses the Niagara peninsula between Port Weller on Lake Ontario and Port Colborne on Lake Erie. The canal is 43.45 km's long (27 miles), and over this length, eight locks raise vessels a total of 99.5 m. (327') from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie. Of the eight locks, the first seven are in the first 14.5 km's (9 miles) of the canal. The locks, with lifts of 13 to 14.6 m. (43' to 48'), serve to raise vessels from Lake Ontario to the level of Lake Erie. Locks 4, 5, and 6 are twin locks that overcome the steep rise at Thorold known as Niagara Escarpment. Lock 8 is a guard lock near the end of the canal at Port Colborne. Due to the large expanse of shoal water in Lake Erie, changes in wind direction and force create water level changes as great as 3.35 m. (11') at Port Colborne. Lock 8 serves to pass vessels from the canal to the prevailing water level of Lake Erie. The canal is crossed by 12 bridges, 4 railway and 8 highway. Two highway tunnels and a railway tunnel pass under the canal. The canal has a rich and interesting history which dates back to November 30, 1824 when the first sod was turned. To read more about the history of the four Welland Canals click here.
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