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Long Sault was a
rapid
Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence.
Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade'' ...
in the St. Lawrence River upstream and west of Cornwall, Ontario
Cornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, situated where the provinces of Ontario and Quebec and the state of New York converge. It is the seat of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry and is Ontario's easternmost city ...
. ''Sault'' is the archaic spelling of the French word ''saut'', meaning rapids.
The Long Sault created a navigation barrier along the river for much of its history, motivating the construction of the Moses-Saunders Power Dam
The Moses-Saunders Power Dam, short for Robert Moses- Robert H. Saunders Power Dam, is a dam on the Saint Lawrence River straddling the border between the United States and Canada. It is located between Massena in New York and Cornwall in Ont ...
, part of the St. Lawrence Seaway, in the 1950s as the size of ships
A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...
and the volume of shipping traffic along the river began to exceed the capacity of the area's canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface f ...
locks.
The construction required the flooding of a large swath of land near the rapids to facilitate a hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
dam and to make the rapids area more navigable. The flooded region includes Ontario's Lost Villages
The Lost Villages were ten communities (nine conventional villages and a populated island) in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, in the former Township (Canada), townships of Cornwall Township, Ontario, Corn ...
.
The Long Sault Parkway
The Long Sault Parkway is a group of eleven islands west of Cornwall in the Canadian province of Ontario, as well as the name of the scenic parkway connecting them. The islands, which include two public beaches and three campgrounds, were cr ...
takes its name from the rapids.
See also
*Cornwall Canal
The Cornwall Canal was built by the British government of Canada to bypass a troublesome rapids hindering navigation on the St. Lawrence at Cornwall, Ontario. Construction began in 1834 and was completed in 1843. Ontario Heritage Trust Founding of ...
* Eisenhower Lock The Eisenhower Lock is one of the seven canal locks on the St Lawrence River leg of the St Lawrence Seaway.
This lock provides a 38 foot lift for ships heading upstream.
It is one of two locks located near Massena, New York.
The lock was construct ...
References
Saint Lawrence Seaway Landforms of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Bodies of water of Ontario Rapids of Canada {{Ontario-river-stub