SAULT STE. MARIE, MI (AP)-- The Soo Locks are getting a new computer system to replace a half-century-old master control system that opens and closes the locks.
Jim Peach, assistant area engineer at the Soo Locks, tells The Detroit News this year's upgrade in Sault Ste. Marie is part of a maritime industry move to more digital and automated systems.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates the navigational lock complex on the St. Marys River. The locks lift and lower vessels moving between Lakes Huron and Superior.
Automation upgrades come as Michigan's congressional delegation continues a lengthy battle for federal funding of an additional shipping lock on the river. Only one of the four locks is large enough to handle the ships that carry 70 percent of the cargo moving through the complex.
