Lachine Canal

Lachine Canal
Diagram showing the canal pass through Montreal's boroughs
Specifications
Locks	5 (originally 7)
Maximum height above sea level	65 ft (20 m)
Navigation authority	Parks Canada
History
Original owner	Company of the Proprietors of the Lachine Canal
Principal engineer	Thomas Burnett
Construction began	July 17, 1821
Date of first use	1825
Date completed	August 24, 1824
Date extended	1843-1848, 1873-1885
Date closed	1970
Date restored	2002
Geography
Start point	Old Port of Montreal
End point	Lachine Lock

The Lachine Canal (Canal de Lachine in French) is a canal passing through the southwestern part of the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, running 14.5 kilometres from the Old Port of Montreal to Lake Saint-Louis, through the boroughs of Lachine, Lasalle and Sud-Ouest. On the land before the canal construction there was a lake named "Lac St Pierre". The lake and its rivers can be seen on the maps of Montreal of the years 1700, 1744 and on the map titled "The isles of Montreal. As they have been surveyed by the french engineers (1761)".

The canal gets its name from the French word for China (La Chine). The European explorers dreamt of finding a route from New France to the Western Sea and there on to China and hence auspiciously the region where the canal was built was named Lachine. Currently, the canal, due to the continuous disposal of industrial waste, has the prevalence of harmful substances, although the water quality is said to be good.

The canal is situated on land originally granted by the King of France to the Sulpician Order. Beginning in 1689, attempts were made by the French Colonial government and several other groups to build a canal that would allow ships to bypass the treacherous Lachine Rapids. After more than 130 years of failure, a consortium that included the young Scottish immigrant John Redpath was successful. John Richardson was Chairman of the Committee of Management of the canal project and its chief engineer was Thomas Brunett. The contractors were Thomas McKay and John Redpath, plus the firms of Thomas Phillips & Andrew White and Abner Bagg & Oliver Wait.