The Soo Locks are a bucket list destination for any Boatnerd.
The Soo Locks are a bucket list destination for any Boatnerd, fans of freighters that ply Great Lakes waters. So it’d be easy to think Tom Soeltner, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, Detroit District, Lock and Dam Supervisor — or better known as lockmaster — is the biggest Boatnerd of all. «I’m actually not a Boatnerd at all», Soeltner said. «There’s a lot of boats I do like to see. People call me all the time and say ‘what’s the cargo’ and I say, ‘I don’t care he’s going downbound.» Soeltner’s priorities need to be elsewhere. «I’m more into the flow, because that’s our job. It’s to keep the time as low as we can, the transit times. And to keep traffic moving, that’s our goal,» he said. «If we can keep the ships moving, they’re happy, we’re happy, that’s the mission.» Soeltner does that by staying in communication with ships heading south from Lake Superior or north from Lake Huron. He also coordinates with the railroad, Coast Guard and the numerous tour boats and pleasure boats that transit the locks every day. «My job here is supervising the operation of the two locks. It’s to keep the traffic moving,» he said.
