What's the Hiram m Chittenden Locks Seattle

The Hiram M Chittenden locks in Seattle represent a complex of locks in the midst of Salmon Bay which is a part of the Lake Washington ship canal in Seattle. Locally, the facility is also known as the Ballard Locks. These locks have nothing to do with the common perception of conventional locks.

The Hiram M Chittenden Locks of Seattle have three major purposes:

Maintaining the level of fresh water at Lake Union and Lake Washington at 20 o 22 fee above sea level

Prevent mixing of Sea water coming from Puget Sound with fresh waters of the lakes.

Move boats from the water level obtaining in the lakes to the Puget Sound water level and in the reverse direction too. You can enhance your experience of this attraction by visiting http://www.nws.usace.army.mil/PublicMenu/Menu.cfm?sitename=lwsc&pagename=mainpage or http://www.seattle.gov/tour/locks.htm

The history of the facility dates back to 1917 and was built by the Army Corps of Engineers. From a visitor's perspective, the locks offer alluring sight of a parade of boats, yachts, barges and motorboats. On the grounds abutting the locks is the Carl English Botanical Gardens which grows more than 1500 varieties of flowers represented under 500 species. The following website has more information on this attraction:

http://static.travelmuse.com/assets/maintenance.html

The engineering feat associated with the locks is astonishing. Over 1.5 million visitors arrive here every year and if that is not reason enough, 75,000 vessels and 2 million tons of cargo traverse through the locks every year. Some of the top Seattle hotel reviews also carry vivid details of this attraction.