Inglis Lock

Lake Rousseau sits almost 30 feet above the western edge of the Cross Florida Barge Canal, and Inglis Lock was built to move barges up or down that difference in elevation. Like water stairs, the lock chamber filled with water after a barge entered, lifting the barge with the rising water so it could exit on the other side. Each time barges were raised or lowered, Inglis Lock used 10 million gallons of water, enough to fill 250,000 bathtubs. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also planned an additional lock east of Dunnellon, 10 miles away, with a dredged channel through Lake Rousseau, which would have made this area a major shipping complex where barges and recreational vessels waited to pass through locks at each end of the lake.

Florida · United States