A shipping lock that enables cargo vessels to move between Lake Huron and Lake Superior has closed temporarily for repairs.
Beverly McCready of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the Poe Lock in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, was closed around 8 a.m. EDT Monday and is expected to reopen at 6:30 p.m.
She says concrete has eroded on a sill beneath one of the lock's gates. Crews are installing concrete and steel plates as a stopgap measure and will do a complete fix this winter.
The Poe Lock is the only one of the Soo Locks that's big enough for large vessels that carry iron ore used in steel manufacturing.
Construction of a second large lock is expected to begin next year at a cost of nearly $1 billion.
