Approximately 65,000 vessels pass through the two navigation locks each year making the Hiram M. … Map shows the Lake Washington Ship Canal. The large lock, a two … Connecting the waters of Lake Washington, Lake Union, and Salmon Bay to the tidal waters of Puget Sound, the canal and locks allow recreational and commercial vessels to travel to the docks and warehouses of Seattle's busy fresh water harbor. Upon its completion, the water level in Lake Washington dropped by nine feet. It was built between 1911 and 1934. The Ship Canal is the only discharge from lakes Sammamish and Washington via the locks and dam at the western end. 33 Seattle’s Aquatic Environments: Lake Union/Lake Washington Ship Canal System Lake Union/Lake Washington Ship Canal System The following write-up relies heavily on the Lake Union/Lake Washington Ship Canal Subarea Chapter by Douglas Houck (with substantial contributions by Deb Lester and Scott Brewer) of the Draft Reconnaissance Assessment – Habitat Factors that Contribute the Lake Washington Ship Canal, except in an area marked by four private buoys in the N part of Lake Union. Funds were obtained for the canal in the early 1900s by the Army Corps of Engineers. Over 1.5 million visitors come annually to the Lake Washington Ship Canal to watch boats and migrating salmon, or stroll through the spectacular botanical garden. During dry weather conditions, sewage … The 30-foot-deep canal connects Puget Sound on the west with Lake Washington eight miles to, The lake is 20.6 feet above mean lower low tide in Puget Sound, to which it is connected via Lake Union and the lake Washington Ship Canal, constructed in 1916. It follows the southern shoreline of the Montlake Cut. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction of the Lake Washington Ship Canal and Hiram M. Chittenden Locks in 1911. Lake Washington Ship Canal joins Lake Washington to Puget Sound in the city of Seattle. Photo courtesy of commons.wickimedia.org and used with permission. Construction of the Lake Washington Ship Canal and Hiram M. Chittenden Locks was completed in 1917 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It can be found near Salmon Bay in Washington. This waterway, which extends from Lake Washington to the Puget Sound, was created in the early 20th century as a transport route for commerce. They were dedicated on July 4, 1917. of the Interior, Geological Survey, 1983); Mike Sato, The Price of Taming a River: The Decline of Puget Sound's Duwamish/Green Waterway (Seattle: The Mountaineers, 1997), 51-57; Morda C. Slauson, "'Where the Black River … The Ship Canal Trail itself is short half mile. Sources: Michael J. Chrzastowski, M. Historical Changes to Lake Washington and Route of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, King County, WA, U.S. (Reston, Va.: U.S. Dept. The tunnel will improve water quality regionally by keeping more than 75 million gallons of polluted stormwater (from rain) and sewage on average each year from flowing into the Lake Washington Ship Canal, Salmon Bay, and Lake Union. The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, or Ballard Locks, is a complex of locks at the west end of Salmon Bay, in Seattle, Washington's Lake Washington Ship Canal, between the neighborhoods of Ballard to the north and Magnolia to the south. The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, a double lock, and a fixed dam are at the narrows of the entrance to Salmon Bay, 1.2 miles in from the sound.