Penetrating 3,540 kilometers (2,200 miles) into interior North America, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Sea-way navigation system, completed in essentially its present form in 1959, was regarded as one of the great engineering accomplishments of the 20th century and an outstanding example of international cooperation. . It was intended to remove much of the disadvantage of the continental interior in importing and exporting overseas. It was also designed to meet the increasing needs for electric power on both sides of the United States-Canada border.
The discovery and prospective exploitation of the iron ore north of the Gulf of St. Lawrence made the seaway project political
Many factors contribute to the long-term decline of seaway traffic. An important trend is the shift in the direction of both U.S. and Canadian intercontinental trade from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Associated with the shift to the Pacific is not only rapid industrialization in east and southeast Asia, but also organizational and technological changes in long distance transportation in North America, facilitating substitution of a land-bridge for many movements that otherwise would have used the Panama Canal. An increasing proportion of the world's ocean-going ships exceeds the size limitations of the seaway's channels and locks. Modern highways, including the Interstate system in the United States, the Trans-Canada, and other express highways in
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