The Union Ship Canal was created through the combined efforts of railroad, shipping, banking, and iron smelting interests. The founders of the Buffalo and Susquehanna Iron Company, predecessor to Hanna Furnace, controlled rail lines to Buffalo from Pennsylvania coal fields and also had Great Lakes shipping interests that could supply iron ore from Michigan and Minnesota. Working with the Pennsylvania Railroad, the company began canal construction in 1903 to connect these resources. Originally called the Goodyear Canal, it began at the shore of Lake Erie and crossed Fuhrmann Boulevard by a Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge. In 1910, it was extended another 950 feet, and in its final form it measured 2,240 feet long, 222 feet wide, and more than 23 feet deep. The canal was used to unload bulk cargo carriers bringing iron ore and limestone, with the minerals stored on Pennsylvania Railroad grounds to the north and the Hanna Furnace storage yard to the south. Larger boats could be unloaded in nine to sixteen hours. During summer months, shipments of iron ore and limestone continued around the clock to supply ongoing smelting operations and build winter reserves when the Great Lakes were frozen. The canal was also used to load ships carrying iron to automobile plants, steel mills, and foundries throughout the Great Lakes and East Coast.