The $3.219 billion Soo Locks overhaul, which began in 2020, has entered its final construction phase, with the Army Corps of Engineers announcing 50 percent progress on September 29.
The project unfolded in three stages: Phase 1, the upstream channel deepening, wrapped up in 2022; Phase 2, the upstream approach walls, finished in 2024; Phase 3, the lock replacement, is now mid‑construction.
Kokosing Alberici Traylor LLC, a joint‑venture contractor signed in July 2022, has been tasked with the heavy lifting, and the Corps awarded its last contract options in June 2025. The firm has already completed $975 million of work, with crews pouring 140,198 cubic yards of concrete by the end of August – roughly 35 percent of the 400,000‑cubic‑yard total.
Workers on site—over 600 engineers, laborers, and specialists—are erecting cofferdams, demolishing the old Sabin Lock, and building new chamber walls, all while fabricating steel components off‑site.
The new lock will match Poe’s 1,200‑by‑110‑foot footprint, 32 feet deep, and its completion will grant the Great Lakes region a second Poe‑sized lock, bolstering resilience and sustaining thousands of jobs tied to raw‑material shipping.
The Army Corps has earmarked the project as a flagship of its ‘Building Infrastructure, Not Paperwork’ initiative, promising faster delivery and lower cost; the Corps now anticipates the lock’s operational handover by 2030, pending final inspections and system calibration.