Welland By-Pass west and by the by-pass channel to the east. Welland By-Pass The Welland By-pass, completed in 1973, was a massive construction project on the Welland Canal in Ontario, Canada. A new channel long was constructed, providing a shorter, more direct alignment between Port Robinson and Port Colborne and by-passing downtown Welland. The project helped improve navigation along the canal and alleviated problems the presence of a busy ship canal was causing in Welland. Although the city of Welland had originally grown around the canal, by the 1960s the constant interruptions in the flow of the vehicular and rail traffic through
First Welland Canal south of it were easy to dig in, but work was accelerated during mild weather of late 1832 and early 1833. On June 1, 1833, the schooner "Matilda", headed for Cleveland from Oakville, became the first ship to travel through the new channel. Overall, the combined Welland and Feeder Canals stretched between the two lakes, with 40 wooden locks. The minimum lock size was 33.5 m by 6.7 m (110 ft by 22 ft), with a minimum canal depth of 2.4 m (8 ft). Today, very little of the First Canal is evident. Much of the Feeder Canal, however is