The New Lock at the Soo is half built: what’s been poured, what’s next and why it matters to steel

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — The biggest construction job in the Upper Peninsula has hit its halfway mark.

Phase 3 of the New Lock at the Soo, the part that builds the lock itself, is 50% complete, according to Traylor Bros., part of the Kokosing Alberici Traylor joint venture the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hired in July 2022. The joint venture has completed about $975 million of work so far. The overall project, at $3.219 billion, remains on track for completion in 2030, the company said.

Where it stands. Crews are placing mass concrete for the lock walls and floor and building a new pump well, while steel components such as miter gates, ship arrestors and culvert valves are fabricated off site. The lock will need about 400,000 cubic yards of concrete; more than 140,000 had been placed through August. About 600 construction workers were on the project in early August, according to the Corps.

Phase 3 also includes demolishing the old Sabin Lock, excavating bedrock, installing mechanical and electrical systems and rehabilitating the downstream approach walls. MLive reported on the halfway milestone in September.

Why it matters. The Poe Lock is the only lock at the Soo big enough for the 1,000-foot freighters that carry most of the iron ore from Minnesota and the U.P. to steel mills on the lower lakes. Traylor says it handles 88% of U.S. domestic iron ore transportation. A second Poe-sized lock means one breakdown would no longer bottleneck the country’s steel supply chain.

The Soo Locks close for the winter in mid-January and reopen in late March. Visitors can watch both the freighters and the construction from the park’s observation platforms during the shipping season.

Sources:
Traylor Construction Group, “New Lock at the Soo Phase 3 Reaches 50% Completion,” 2026 (completion percentage, contract, work completed, concrete totals, scope, cost, 2030 target, 88% iron ore figure, Corps photo caption on workers), https://www.traylorconstructiongroup.com/newsroom/new-lock-at-the-soo-phase-3-reaches-50-completion/
MLive, “New Soo Lock takes shape as construction hits halfway mark,” Sept. 2026, https://www.mlive.com/news/2026/09/new-soo-lock-takes-shape-as-construction-hits-halfway-mark.html
Photo: Deb Nystrom from Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, “Freighter Burns Harbor, entering the Poe Lock, Soo Locks (24273316458).jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Freighter_Burns_Harbor,_entering_the_Poe_Lock,_Soo_Locks_(24273316458).jpg

Sault Ste. Marie

Tags: Sault Ste. Marie · News · Soo Locks · New Lock at the Soo · Shipping · Army Corps of Engineers