Canso Canal Closes for the Winter

AULD'S COVE, NOVA SCOTIA--(Marketwire - Dec. 12, 2011) - The Canso Canal will close for the winter season on December 24 at 7:30 a.m. AST. The canal will reopen on April 14, 2012.

In 2011, there were 1,529 ship passages through the canal carrying nearly 500,000 tonnes of cargo. The bulk of the cargo was quarried materials and fish products.

The canal was opened in 1955 to allow for vessel traffic through the Canso Causeway, linking Cape Breton Island and mainland Nova Scotia. The canal, the only one operated by the Canadian Coast Guard, is an essential navigation component of the federal-provincial transportation agreement signed in 1953.

The Canal is comprised of lock approach structures and one tidal lock. The tracks upon which the north and south lock gates open and close were replaced over the last two seasons as part of a $6 million refurbishment to the canal The north gate track was replaced in 2009-2010 and the south gate in 2010-2011.

For broadcast:

The Canso Canal will close December 24, 2011 for the winter after another busy shipping season. The canal, the only one operated by Canadian Coast Guard, had more than 1,500 ship movements this year carrying nearly 500,000 tonnes of cargo. The canal will re-opened April 14, 2012.