Peterborough Lift Lock

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Peterborough Lift Lock
Front view of the Peterborough Lift Lock
44°18′27″N 78°18′03″W / 44.30750°N 78.30083°W / 44.30750; -78.30083
Waterway	Trent-Severn Waterway
Country	Canada
Province	Southern Ontario
Maintained by	Parks Canada
Operation	Hydraulic
First built	1904 (1904)
Latest built	1980s
Length	43 metres (141 ft)
Width	10 metres (33 ft)
Fall	19.8 metres (65 ft 0 in)
National Historic Site of Canada
Designated	1979

The Peterborough Lift Lock is a boat lift located on the Trent Canal in the city of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, and is Lock 21 on the Trent-Severn Waterway.

For many years, the lock's dual lifts were the highest hydraulic boat lifts in the world, raising boats 65 ft (20 m). This was a considerable accomplishment in the first years of the 20th century, when conventional locks usually only had a 7 ft (2.1 m) rise.

In the 1980s, a visitor centre was built beside the lock. It offers interactive simulations of going over the lift lock in a boat, and historical exhibits detailing the construction of the lift lock.

Residents and visitors skate on the canal below the lift lock in the winter.

The Peterborough Lift Lock was designated a National Historic Site in 1979,^[1][2] and was named an Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1987.^[3]

The Trent-Severn has a similar hydraulic lift lock, the Kirkfield Lift Lock, at its summit near Kirkfield, with basins of the same dimensions, but which has a smaller vertical lift.