Cal-Sag Channel

The Calumet-Saganashkee Channel, usually shortened to the Cal-Sag Channel, is a 16-mile-long (26 km) drainage and shipping canal in southern Cook County, Illinois, operated by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD). A component of the Chicago Area Waterway System, it connects the Little Calumet River to the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

Calumet-Saganashkee Channel
The Cal-Sag Channel at Blue Island, looking northeast
LocationCook County, Illinois
CountryUnited States
Coordinates41°41′6″N 87°50′49″W
Specifications
Length16 miles (26 km)
LocksNone
StatusOpen
History
Construction began1911
Date completed1922
Geography
Start pointChicago Sanitary and Ship Canal
End pointLittle Calumet River

History

Constructed between 1911 and 1922, the canal was dug to reverse the flow of the Little Calumet River for the purpose of draining untreated sewage discharged into the river away from Lake Michigan and into the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.[1] The canal was initially constructed to a width of 60 feet (18 m), with its eastern end guarded by the Blue Island Lock and controlling work. The lock measured 350 feet (110 m) by 50 feet (15 m) and facilitated very limited inland shipping operations.[2]

With the development of the Illinois Waterway to provide for a standardized inland shipping connection between Calumet Region and the Mississippi River, 160 feet (49 m) passing sidings were built along the canal every three miles in 1936.[2] However, the primary purpose of the Cal-Sag remained to drain sewage and stormwater away from the lake.

The channel was once again widened and improved by the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) between 1955 and 1965 to its current 225 feet (69 m) to allow use by increasingly large barges.[3][1] In 1965, the Blue Island Lock and controlling works were decommissioned and demolished after the T.J. O'Brien Lock and Dam was completed upstream.[2]

The Cal-Sag Channel served as the rowing venue for the 1959 Pan American Games.[4]

Overview

The Cal-Sag Channel serves barge traffic in what was an active zone of heavy industry in the far southern neighborhoods of the city of Chicago and adjacent suburbs. As of 2006 it was also used more as a conduit for wastewater from southern Cook County, including the Chicago-area Deep Tunnel Project, into the Illinois Waterway. It is also used by pleasure crafts in the summer time.

The western 4.5 miles (7.2 km) of the channel flow through the Palos Forest Preserves, a large area of parkland operated by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.

When it is completed, the Calumet-Sag Trail, a 26-mile-long (42 km) greenway, will border the channel and will stretch from the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to the Burnham Greenway.

References
  1. Peetz, Bob. "A Canal Runs Through It". PEETZ.US. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  2. "Historic American Engineering Record, Illinois Waterway, Thomas J. O'Brien Dam and Control Works, HAER No.IL-164-I" (PDF). National Park Service, Historic American Engineering Record (HAER). National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  3. An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Structures Within the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor. National Park Service. 1996. Finally, in 1955, the Corps commenced the channel-widening project.
  4. Lyke, Bill (August 29, 1959). "Drive Out to the Pan-Am Gamnes!". Chicago Tribune. p. B1. ProQuest 182386533.
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