The St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project: An Oral History of the Greatest Construction Show on Earth

8. A Lifetime of Memories

288 8 ALifetimeofMemories the american public works association heralded the St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project as one of the top ten construction projects of the twentieth century. However, even with this recognition, it remains absent from most history textbooks. Students are taught the impact of the Panama Canal and the Hoover Dam on international trade and power production, but cannot locate the Eisenhower Lock on a map of North America. Even though the St. Lawrence Seaway was the largest inland waterway ever completed, and the Robert Moses–Robert H. Saunders Power Dam sends electricity to many areas of New York State, Vermont, and the provinces of Quebec and Ontario, ships sail through the locks and the turbines rotate in relative obscurity. One of the main reasons why most Americans and Canadians do not know about the St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project is because while the construction techniques and design may have been innovative for the 1950s, today they are obsolete. In the present, the system struggles to serve its navigational and power production role in an age when people barely concern themselves with current events. The Niagara Falls project, which was completed in 1964, upstaged the St. Lawrence project in terms of size and public visibility. David Flewelling Most Americans do not know what the St. Lawrence Seaway and power dam is. I know about it because I worked on it. For the average person that lives in the Northeast they have no idea where their power comes from. Young people know there is a wire connected to a pole in their front yard A Lifetime of Memories   |   289 that transports electricity, but they do not know anything about the dams that generate the power or how these facilities were built. It was memorable for me because it began my career working on heavy construction. Roderick Nicklaw The Seaway and power dam was one heck of a project. It was a big deal. It was like the Panama Canal or the Hoover Dam. For the average citizen to understand the magnitude of it, they have to see how the whole system— the locks, dams, and waterway—function together. Ted Catanzarite The Seaway and dams haven’t been of major interest to Americans in the past or in the present. While it was under construction many tourists came to visit the area. But even though it was one of the greatest construction projects in the history of the United States, in the present day it is largely ignored. Americans should know about the long political debate surrounding the funding of the construction and the modifications that were made to the lock and dam designs over time. All of the elements— the machines, the workers, and the stringent time schedule—were unique. The other issue may be the isolated location of the dam and locks. Bill Spriggs The reason why no one knows about the Seaway construction has to do with the lack of American interest in the nation’s basic history. People in general are not curious about any event or past project that doesn’t affect them. PASNY and the Seaway Authority had the opportunity to build museums on the lock walls and show how each structure was built. But they were cheap. They just wanted to build the visitor’s center at the main power dam. If the tourist facilities had been more elaborate, it would have attracted more visitors to see not only the large machines and the unique construction techniques that were used, but also cannonballs and oddly shaped boulders that were discovered when workers dried up the rapids with the cofferdam and dragline operators dredged the river bed. The National Park Service constructed facilities like that at the Hoover Dam. It 290   |   The St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project was amazing what all of the contractors and workers did, but their efforts have largely been forgotten. Joe Marmo In those days, I don’t think people thought much of the historical significance of the project. Everyone finished their part of the job and took off. But it was such a novel undertaking with the massive equipment like the “gentleman,” the harsh temperatures, the drying up of the rapids with the tetrahedrons, the land acquisitions, and the round-the-clock work schedule . Those were all unique aspects of the St. Lawrence project and are not typical conditions or problems contractors or workers would...