Your location: Rideau Canal Home Page > Rideau Lockstations > Black Rapids Lock 13
| Number of locks: 1 |
Total Lift: 2.8m ( 9.2 ft.) |
Lock Through Time: 15 minutes* |
| Chart No: 1512 (Sheet 1) |
GPS:1 N 45° 19.300' W 75° 41.900' |
| Chart Sales: No |
Lockstation Tel: 613-226-5434 |
| Washrooms: Yes2 |
Drinking Water: Yes3 |
Day Use Docking: Yes |
| Overnight Mooring: Yes |
Docking4 Upstream: 103m/339' |
Docking4 Downstream: 46m/150' |
| Ice: No |
Power: Yes |
Boater Camping:5 Yes |
| Boat Launch: No |
Picnic Tables: Yes |
BBQ Grills: No |
| Parking: Yes |
Public Telephone: No |
Self Guided Trail: No |
Hwy Access: off of Hwy. 16
(Prince of Wales Drive) |
Lock Connects: Rideau River to Rideau River |
| Civic Address: 2453 Prince of Wales Drive, Ottawa, Ontario |
| Special Notes: To ensure passage, boaters must arrive at least 30 minutes prior to closing. |
| Of Interest: Black Rapids is a peaceful oasis in the urban sprawl of Ottawa. It offers a beautiful park like setting with large trees and verdant lawns. It’s one of only two locks (the other being Newboro) that were converted from manual to electric operation, the conversion here was done in 1969. It also features a flat overflow dam. Spring flooding caused problems with this dam, it had to be rebuilt several times, with the last major re-construction done (using concrete) in 1925. |
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* Time to actually go through the locks. Allow at least twice this time when trip planning. See Schedule Caveats.
1) GPS data should not be used for navigation. See the GPS page.
2) Washrooms are wheel chair accessible.
3) Unless indicated otherwise, water at the lockstation is potable.
4) Includes both blueline and greyline docking - see Lockstation Docking Page.
5) Allows tent camping for those arriving by water and also for cyclists and hikers.
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Black Rapids Lock looking SouthThe photo clearly shows the relationship of the overflow dam, the waste water weir and the lock. Most of the water level regulation is done by the weir. Stop logs can be removed to allow more water to flow through the weir. Colonel By in his design of the Rideau locks had to take into account typical Canadian spring flooding. In more temperate climates, an overflow dam could take care of all the water level regulation. But the amount of water heading down the Rideau in early spring would scour the base of an overflow dam and eventually destroy it, so a weir is used to drop the water level above the dam in advance of spring flooding and to pass through most of spring flood water.
photo copyright © Canadian Hydrographic Service - used with permission |
Comments: send me email: Ken Watson
©1996- Ken W. Watson
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