Wing Wall

Every lock on a canal has "wing walls" on either side of each end. They serve to guide the canal boats into the narrow lock and also serve as erosion prevention as the canal water is squeezed down from 60' wide to 10' wide for the locks. This is the downstream side of Lock 1, the first lock after the initial gate from the Chicago River. It's in downtown Lockport, IL, which was the headquarters for the I&M. The water moves pretty quickly from here, as it's a 40' drop from Lockport to where the Canal meets the DesPlaines River at Joliet. There are 4 locks from here to Joliet. A 5th one that opened into the river was removed when the Sanitary and Ship Canal replaced the I&M. Olympus E-M5, d. Zuiko 12-50