Wisconsin - Fox River - Menasha Lock
N 44° 12.150 W 088° 27.632
16T E 383301 N 4895401
Quick Description: One of two currently operating locks on the Fox River System.
Location: Wisconsin, United States
Date Posted: 4/22/2006 1:19:35 PM
Waymark Code: WMB0T
Views: 50
Long Description:Dropping 169 feet during it's 39 mile journey from Lake Winnebago
to Lake Michigan, the Fox River is tamed by 17 locks and 9 dams
with a total of 72 gates. This is the first lock you will travel
through to get from Lake Winnebago to Lake Michigan.
The original goal was to connect the Great Lakes (and the
Atlantic Ocean) to the Mississippi River (and the Gulf of Mexico).
The introduction of the railroad to Wisconsin brought the demise of
the hard-to-navigate canal system and the lock at Portage was
filled in and you can no longer navigate the entire system without
getting out of your boat.
In the 1880's, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers established
standards for the Upper Fox River Navigational Chanel. A
6'(1.83m)depth for the locks and an average 9'(2.7m)depth for the
canals would be maintained. The lock sizes were also all
standadized at 36'(10.9m)wide and 145'(44.2m)long.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers abandoned all but two of the
navigational aids in 1986 after much debate. They would slowly
decay from 1986 until 2002 when they were transfered from Corps
control to State control.
Currently the locks are owned by the Fox River Navagational
System Authority and they are tasked with opening all of the other
15 locks within the next three years.
More information can be found at Foxlox ("http://foxlox.com"
target="_blank">visit link)