Welland Canal an average of about eleven hours to traverse the entire length of the Welland Canal. Before the digging of the Welland Canal, shipping traffic between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie used a portage road between Chippawa, Ontario, and Queenston, Ontario, both of which are located on the Niagara River—above and below Niagara Falls, respectively. The Welland Canal Company was incorporated by the Province of Upper Canada, in 1824, after a petition by nine "freeholders of the District of Niagara". One of the petitioners was William Hamilton Merritt, who was in part looking to provide a regular flow of water for
Welland Canal ship locks. Seven of the locks (Locks 1–7, the 'Lift' locks) are long and raise (or lower) passing ships by between each. The southernmost lock, (Lock 8 – the 'Guard' or 'Control' lock) is in length. The Garden City Skyway passes over the canal, restricting the maximum height of the masts of the ships allowed on this canal to . All other highway or railroad crossings of the Welland Canal are either movable bridges (of the vertical lift or bascule bridge types) or subterranean tunnels. The maximum permissible length of a ship in this canal is . It takes ships