The Ingenious Infrastructure Behind Niagara Falls

Grady Hillhouse of Practical Engineering took a look at the ingenious engineering behind the historic Niagara Falls. Hillhouse further notes that the hidden infrastructure, installed to overcome shipping challenges, is just as grand as the falls themselves. Another important note is that these concerns and solutions are addressed on both sides of the border between the United States and Canada.

The same thing that makes it impressive for tourists (the big drop) makes it valuable for power and a major challenge for shipping. And out of that comes all kinds of fascinating infrastructure, not only to facilitate the tourism but the other stuff too: a major canal with locks and aqueducts, the international dam control gates, pumped  storage reservoirs, epic tunnels, towering gates, massive hydropower plants, and so much more.

Niagara Falls Engineering
Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.