The Rideau Canal locks in Kingston were a beehive of activity in recent weeks, even though boating season is still weeks away.
Crews have been busy repairing some of the locks as part of a multi-year restoration. Friday was clean-up day as the last real activity of phase one of the project wrapped up at Kingston Mills locks.
There’s still landscaping to be done, but the initial phase of the project began in November of last year. Jamie Dickey is the project engineer with Parks Canada.
“Our lock staff are starting next week,” Dickey said. “They’ll be starting to come to site working on the locks, training in a new staff for this year. Things are underway, the boats will come soon.”
WATCH: Work on Kingston Mills Locks getting ready to start
And when those boats arrive, they’ll see a number of changes. Dickey says lock 46 on Colonel By Lake is where the majority of the work happened. Stones were re-pointed, concrete patched and mortar used to fill in cracks of problem areas. Walls in the turning basin were also dealt with.
Dickey says they’re already thinking about phase two of the rehabilitation, which begins this fall after boating season.
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“It’s been deferred maintenance that has been building up,” Dickey said. “We’re fortunate Parks Canada is spending $3 billion on their resources across the country. Here on the Rideau Canal, we had a $100 million to spend over five years and this is a big portion of that.”
WATCH: High water levels create dangerous conditions around Ontario locks and dams
The $13.4-million Kingston Mills project is supposed to be done by the spring of 2021.
The Rideau Canal opens the 2019 season on May 17.
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