A   RIDEAU   IMAGE

Lower Beveridges Lockstation
Lower Beveridges - Lock 33
photo by: Ken W. Watson

A single lock provides 12 feet (3.6 m) of lift. The combined lift of Lower and Upper Beveridges into the Tay Canal is 22.9 feet (7.0 m). While this appears to be a typical Rideau Lock, it was actually built in the 1880s, over 50 years after the Rideau Canal was constructed.

Navigation into Perth from the Rideau Canal was originally provided by a private commercial canal, known at the First Tay Canal, which was opened in 1834. It consisted of five small locks, the first located in Port Elmsley, using the Tay River for navigation. This canal never made money and by the mid-1800s had fallen into disrepair and disuse. A lobby was started to re-connect Perth with the Rideau Canal using government funds. The local MP, John Haggart, took up the cause and succeeded in getting the funding for two new locks and a dredged cut to Perth. For a time this new canal was known as "Haggart's Ditch."

For a full history of the Beveridges Locks see: History of the Beveridges Locks




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URL: www.rideau-info.com/canal/images/places/img-33-lowerbeveridges.html
© 2013 Ken W. Watson