Rideau Canal, Locks 1 - 8 - Ottawa

The Rideau Canal drops seventy-nine feet through these eight stone locks to meet the Ottawa River. Colonel John By arrived here in eighteen twenty-six to build this route, fearing an American invasion would cut off the Saint Lawrence River. His laborers spent six years carving the channel through solid rock using black powder and hand tools. Hundreds of them died from malaria in the nearby swamps. Today, the locks still operate with their original cast-iron gear systems to lift boats by hand.