Rideau Canal Waterway - Black Rapids


		Black Rapids Lock 13

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(history) BLACK RAPIDS Lock 13 (water map) (road map)
Number of locks: 1	Total Lift: 2.8m ( 9.2 ft.)	Lock Through Time: 15 minutes*
Chart No: 1512 (Sheet 1)	GPS:¹ N 45^o 19.300' W 75^o 41.900'
Chart Sales: No	Lockstation Tel: (613) 226-5434
Washrooms: Yes²	Drinking Water: Yes³	Day Use Docking: Yes
Overnight Mooring: Yes	Docking⁴ Upstream: 103m/339'	Docking⁴ Downstream: 46m/150'
Ice: No	Power: No	Boater Camping:⁵ Yes
Boat Launch: No	Picnic Tables: Yes	BBQ Grills: Yes
Parking: Yes	Public Telephone: No	Self Guided Trail: No
Hwy Access: off Hwy. 73	Lock Connects: Rideau River to Rideau River

Special Notes: To ensure passage, boaters must arrive at least 30 minutes prior to closing.

Of Interest: Black Rapids is a peaceful oasis in the urban sprawl of Ottawa. It offers a beautiful park like setting with large trees and verdant lawns. It’s one of only two locks (the other being Newboro) that were converted from manual to electric operation, the conversion here was done in 1969. It also features a flat overflow dam. Spring flooding caused problems with this dam, it had to be rebuilt several times, with the last major re-construction done (using concrete) in 1925.

Notes: No gas nearby

* Time to actually go through the locks. Allow at least twice this time when trip planning. See Schedule Caveats.
1) GPS data should not be used for navigation. See the GPS page.
2) Washrooms are wheel chair accessible.
3) Check with lockstation staff for potability of water.
4) Includes both blueline and greyline docking - see Lockstation Docking Page.
5) Allows tent camping for those arriving by water and also for cyclists and hikers.

Black Rapids Lock looking SouthThe photo clearly shows the relationship of the overflow dam, the waste water weir and the lock. Most of the water level regulation is done by the weir. Stop logs can be removed to allow more water to flow through the weir. Colonel By in his design of the Rideau locks had to take into account typical Canadian spring flooding. In more temperate climates, an overflow dam could take care of all the water level regulation. But the amount of water heading down the Rideau in early spring would scour the base of an overflow dam and eventually destroy it, so a weir is used to drop the water level above the dam in advance of spring flooding and to pass through most of spring flood water.

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