As technology has advanced, there had been a desperate need to constantly improve the Welland Canal. Ships became wider and larger, carrying more cargo while the hand built canal remained the same. In order to keep it functioning and efficient the Canal has been rebuilt and adjusted 8 times since its creation in the 1830's (Burtniak & Turner,1979). Over time the wavy format of the river has slowly been straightened out between the two lakes in order to make it more stable and safe for transportation. During the building of the original canal, they had run into many significant problems, which included funding, the geology of the plates as well as lack of robust equipment. All of these factors had resulted in a very inefficient 1st version of the Welland Canal. Yet it should be noted that this does not take away from the significance of the achievement, just the reasons as to why it has slowly shifted over time (Burtniak & Turner,1979).

The site of the Welland Canal is located as the 9th destination on the Merritt Family Historical Tour.

Burtniak & Turner (1979). First Annual Niagara Peninsula History Conference. City of St. Catharines and the Geography Department of Brock University. April 1979.