Ask the Scholar

{
    "localId": "12010187",
    "label": "A Report to the National Security Council by the Planning Board on National Security Interests in the Saint Lawrence-Great Lakes Seaway Project",
    "core": "doc",
    "dtoType": "document",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/12010187"
}

{
    "id": "12010187",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/12010187",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "A Report to the National Security Council by the Planning Board on National Security Interests in the Saint Lawrence-Great Lakes Seaway Project",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/12010187",
    "collections": [
        "Records of the Office of the Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Eisenhower Administration)",
        "National Security Council Policy Papers"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/eisenhower/dde-1417/12003878/12003878_001_01.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/eisenhower/dde-1417/12003878/12003878_001_01.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/eisenhower/dde-1417/12003878/12003878_001_01.jpg",
    "imageCount": 18,
    "hasImages": true,
    "source": "import",
    "hasTranscription": false
}

{
    "url": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/12010187",
    "naId": 12010187,
    "levelOfDescription": "item",
    "productionDates": [
        {
            "day": 16,
            "logicalDate": "1953-04-16",
            "month": 4,
            "year": 1953
        }
    ],
    "recordType": "description",
    "ocrSource": "nara-archive"
}

{
    "seq": 14,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/eisenhower/dde-1417/12003878/12003878_001_14.jpg",
    "mediaId": "1f0943c801d5d79d",
    "ocrText": "UNCLASSIFIED\nhave been estimated to reach a rate of 5 million tons a year\nin 1954, with the output rising to 30 million tons per year,\ndepending on the availability of the St. Lawrence Seaway.\nIt is evident from the above that Quebec-Labra-\ndor and Venezuela are scheduled to supply the bulk of iron\nore imports necessary to meet the future requirements of the\nUnited States.\nThe second important fact to be considered can\nbe treated briefly. Our blast furnaces are heavily concen-\ntrated in the Ohio and western Pennsylvania area. Location\nin this area has been supported by large nearby coal fields,\nnearness to markets, and accessibility to low-cost trans-\nportation of iron ore on the Great Lakes. If the steel plants\nof the Great Lakes were to be shut down as a reflection of\nincreasing costs of obtaining iron ore, many of the\nusing iron and steel in this region would also have move\nelsewhere. This would mean a colossal economic dislocation\nwhich we cannot afford.\nThe third important fact is the need for supply-\ning large tonnages of ore from new sources. It relates to the\nquestions as to whether the existing facilities on the St.\nLawrence are adequate for the transportation of the iron ore\nto the Great Lakes plants; whether the ore cannot be trans+\nported to the Atlantic seaboard and thence by rail to the\nblast furnaces; and whether the development of this Seaway\nto meet the steel requirements of the country would otherwise\nbe desirable and in the public interest.\nThe development of the St. Lawrence-Great Lakes\nSeaway is not in the nature of a new undertaking. The problem\nhere is that of completing a vital link in a project which\nhas been under way for generations. Major navigation works\nwhich utilize the resources of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence\nsystem have been completed and have been operated successfully\nfor years. Before World War II the connecting channels of the\nupper Great Lakes were improved by the United States to a\ndepth of 26 feet. In the midst of the war the McArthur Lock\nin the Soo Canal was completed in 1943 with a depth of 30 feet\nover the lock sills. These improvements made possible the\nrecord shipment of iron ore from the Mesabi and other Lake\nSuperior ranges to blast furnaces in the lower lakes steel\ncenters, which sustained our steel industry during the last\nwar.\nA different situation obtains in the Inter-\nnational Rapids section of the St. Lawrence River. This\nsection, some 46 miles long, is presently by-passed by\nNSC 150\n- 12 -\nUNCLASSIFIED"
}