Smiths Falls is a town in Eastern Ontario famous because the Rideau Canal waterway passes through the town, with four separate locks in three locations and a combined lift of over 50 feet. In order to create a lock system, the Rideau River had to be dammed to create a pond large enough to fill the locks. Here is Kathy peering over at the famous Smith Falls.
The spillway gives the illusion of an infinity pool.
An article in Smith's Gazetteer in 1846 described the town as a "flourishing little village pleasantly situated on the Rideau River and on the Canal, fourteen miles from Perth. It contains about 700 inhabitants. There are fifty dwellings, two grist mills (one with four run of stones), two sawmills, one carding and fulling mill, seven stores, six groceries, one axe factory, six blacksmiths, two wheelwrights, one cabinet maker, one chair-maker, three carpenters, one gunsmith, eleven shoemakers, seven tailors, one tinsmith and two taverns."
In the 1850s the major railway companies were looking to build main trunk lines linking Toronto, Kingston and Montreal. A bascule bridge (commonly referred to as a drawbridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or "leaf," throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. The name comes from the French term for balance scale, which employs the same principle. Bascule bridges are the most common type of movable span because they open quickly and require relatively little energy to operate.
The "Scherzer" rolling lift is a patented refinement by the American engineer William Donald Scherzer. The rolling lift trunnion, raises the span by rolling on a track resembling a rocking chair base. Doesn't it look like a big rocking chair?
We just happened to be walking by one of the original locks, Lock 31, just as a boat and canoe were getting ready to continue their journey downstream toward Ottawa. If you look to the right of the photo, two Parks Canada rangers are turning a hand crank closing the lock gate.
We took a little video of the canoers paddling through the lock. The water level dropped 8 feet before they could proceed out the gate on the far side. Here the Parks Canada employee is turning the bridge out of the way so the boat could pass. The canoers went right under. :)
Further downstream, we got a good look at the old locks No. 28, 29 and 30. When a new traffic bridge was needed, the old locks were shut down and a new combined lock was created. Here is a photo of the old locks, through which some water still flows and which someone has decorated with pots and plants:
We started to work our way down to the last lock in Smiths Falls, but lunch was calling us, so we went back into town to find one of those pubs they talked about in the newspaper article.
It didn't take long to find Rob Roy's Pub. It sit right next to the river with a commanding view of the falls.
Luckily, it wasn't that crowded and we were able to score a table with a view of the falls. We could have sat outside on their big roomy deck IF IT WASN"T SO FRIGGIN' COLD! But, who's complaining? At least the sun finally came out.
Did you know that Canada likes to paint it's highways on Sundays? On our drive home, we had the pleasure of following a paint truck down a two lane country road for 10 miles. I think, by the time the paint truck pulled over, we had a 10 mile backup. The slow going did afford us the opportunity to look around. Here we found Great White's Uncle - International Blanco. He's for sale if anyone out there is looking for an RV hauler. Located on Route 43 in Kemptville, Ontario, Canada. I am sure they with throw in the combine if you ask.
Our trip to Smith Falls was just our introduction to the Rideau Canal. The canal was opened in 1832 as a precaution in case of war with the United States. The Canadians were not very happy after the War of 1812. I don't know why: they won! Regardless, they didn't trust the U.S. and wanted to make sure they had a shipping lane to transport goods from Toronto to Montreal just in case we decided to attack again.
The Rideau Canal remains in use today primarily for pleasure boating, with most of its original structures intact, operated by Parks Canada. You can buy a permit to travel through the locks based on the length of your boat. The locks on the system open for navigation in mid-May and close in mid-October. It is the oldest continuously operated canal system in North America, and in 2007 it was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Tomorrow, we hope to bike along the canal into downtown Ottawa. Wish us luck!
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