export shipments are now going to South America, Asia, and Africa. These destinations make Gulf and West Coast ports more critical to 21st-century grain exports. Referring to the seaway project, a retired Iowa State University economics professor who specialized in transportation issues said, "It probably did make sense, at about the time it (the Seaway) was constructed and conceived, but since then everything has changed." Certain seaway users have been concerned about the low water levels of the Great Lakes that have been recorded since 2010. Expansion proposal The Panama Canal was completed in 1914 and also serves oceangoing traffic. In the 1950s, seaway designers chose not to build the locks to match the size of ships permitted by the 1914 locks at the Panama Canal (, known as the Panamax limit). Instead, the seaway locks were built to match the smaller locks of Welland Canal, which opened in 1932. The seaway locks permit passage of a ship long by feet wide (the Seawaymax limit). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducted a study to expand the St. Lawrence Seaway, but the plan was scrapped in 2011 because of tight budgets. Locks in the St. Lawrence River There are seven locks in the St. Lawrence River portion of the seaway. From downstream to upstream they are: St. Lambert Lock—Saint Lambert, QC Côte Ste. Catherine Lock—Sainte-Catherine, QC Beauharnois Locks (two locks)—Melocheville, QC, at and Snell Lock—Massena, NY Eisenhower Lock—Massena, NY Iroquois Lock—Iroquois, ON, at Water Level Elevations: Lake Ontario is above sea level. The drop through Iroquois Lock is . Lake St. Lawrence is above sea level. The drop through Eisenhower Lock is . The Wiley-Dondero Canal is above sea level. The drop through Snell Lock is . Lake St. Francis is above sea level . The drop through Upper Beauharnois Lock is . The Beauharnois Canal is above sea level. The drop through Lower Beauharnois Lock is . Lake St. Louis is above sea level. The drop through Côte Ste. Catherine Lock is . Laprairie Basin is above sea level. The drop through St. Lambert Lock is . The drop through the Lachine Rapids is a few feet. Montreal Harbour is approximately above sea level. Locks in the Welland Canal There are eight locks on the Welland Canal. From the north to the south, there is lock 1 at Port Weller, followed by Lock 2 and then Lock 3, a