The Canso Canal is a short canal located in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located in the Strait of Canso, on the eastern side of the Canso Causeway, a rock-fill causeway which opened in 1955 to carry a 2-lane highway and railway tracks from Cape Breton Island to mainland Nova Scotia. The canal was built through Balhache Point. The causeway completely blocks the Strait of Canso, which links the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence with Chedabucto Bay on the Atlantic Ocean. The tidal difference between both water bodies required a lock and short canal to permit a safe transit by shipping traffic. The lock is of "Seaway-max" dimensions, meaning that any vessel capable of transiting the St. Lawrence Seaway will fit through the Canso Canal. A rotating swing bridge carries the Trans-Canada Highway and Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway across the canal. Vessels entering St. George's Bay to the west of the canal, or Chedabucto Bay to the east, must comply with a Vessel Traffic System operated by the Canadian Coast Guard. The bridge operator, an employee of the railway which owns the bridge, is required by federal law to rotate the structure to accommodate vessel passage.
Further reading
- The Canso Causeway's History and Impact [[1]]
