Levels of service review - 2007
Waterways Management

Follow-up

• Develop waterways so as to accomodate larger (breadth) vessels on the commercial shipping lane and the St-Lawrence Seaway.
  

  Actions taken :
  
  

• In August 2008, the Canadian Coast Guard and its partners, Transport Canada (TC) and the Laurentian Pilotage Authority (LPA), initiated a study to determine the feasibility of having Post-Panamax class vessels regularly transit the St. Lawrence River waterway up to the Port of Montréal. Among the matters addressed by the study will be the transit conditions needed to ensure the safety of mariners, environmental protection and the protection of shoreline properties while minimizing the impact on other users of the waterway. Based on the current timetable, the study's conclusions should be available in the spring of 2009.

• Maintain booms and islets used for ice control in operational status on Lake St-Pierre and add more booms in the lower part of the lake.
  

  Actions taken :
  
  

• Each year, the booms on Lake St-Pierre, at Lanoraie and Lavaltrie are put in place in the fall and removed in the spring. Regular maintenance is performed on the booms and any components in poor condition are replaced on an on-going basis in order to ensure that they effectively meet the needs of mariners. There are currently no plans to add booms in the eastern portion of Lake St-Pierre. During the major ice jam in the winter of 1992-93, different studies were conducted to determine the optimal configuration of marine works to put in place on Lake St-Pierre to ensure effective ice cover management. Subsequent to these studies, the current combination, consisting of the Yamachiche boom and nine artificial islets positioned on both sides of the waterway, was found to be the solution offering the best cost/benefit ratio while facilitating spring icebreaking operations.

• Maintain anchorage areas in operational status outside the commercial channel, particularly between Bécancour and Grondines.
  

  Actions taken :
  
  

• Over the coming months, a study will be conducted to review requirements associated with maintaining anchorage areas. It will be made on the basis of current navigation needs, the new technologies available, changes in vessel size and in the volume of traffic in the St. Lawrence River waterway. The study will be conducted in cooperation with the stakeholders concerned, including the pilotage corporation.

• Support the introduction of equipment and technologies that will optimize the use of the water column for commercial shipping.
  

  Actions taken :
  
  

• The past few years, the Waterways Management Program has been committed to an on-going review of its ways of operating and to drawing on new technologies that are now available to ensure the optimal and safe use of the water column available for shipping. In the coming months, we will also be revising the under-keel clearance standard. The findings of a project to measure squat during actual vessel transits in the St. Lawrence River waterway will be taken into account in establishing the new standard. Moreover, we continue to be involved in files such as Electronic Navigation and the improved accuracy of our bathymetric surveys, in partnership with the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS).

• Include the winter season in the water level prediction service and broadcast this information on a daily basis.
  

  Actions taken :
  
  

• We find that problems are encountered when trying to model water levels when there is an ice cover and that these problems have a direct impact on the quality of the results. This is why the Coast Guard does not issue water level forecasts in the winter. However, we will transfer this matter to our Waterways Management group in Ottawa, which is responsible for delivery of this service for the St. Lawrence