How deep is the Detroit River?

[Leo B]

That 28 foot shipping channel and shallow Lake St. Clair are a precarious choke point in the Great Lakes System. In comparison the Mississippi is 200 feet deep [[the maximum) at New Orleans!

[Bobl]

There is miles of fishing line hooked on the rocks at the bottom as well as old cars from the twenties and thirties when they used to run rum from Canada. They drove on the ice and a lot of them didn't make it, so there's also a lot of old booze down there.

I have seen great globs of fishing line in Lake St Clair. Perhaps someone can explain what causes it to weave itself together like that.
I have heard stories of boaters finding old wrecks from the rum running days, but have never seen any. It would be very interesting to sample some old Canadian Liquor from back then!

My parents, who grew up near Belle Isle, told of the night that someone fired shots at them while they were out in a rowboat one evening. They suspected that it was smugglers who thought they were competition.

[Ray1936]

Back about 1985, the DPD dive team was doing a practice run called a power dive, where they are towed along by a small moving watercraft. One of the team spotted something rather large and straight [[nature abhors a straight line), and signalled for a stop. Exploration of the item proved it to be a cannon, circa 1812. It was brought up, and I believe is on display on Belle Isle. The cannon was found off the foot of Randolph.

I have little doubt there are more cannon on the floor to be found, along with scores handguns from the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.

I don't know how much muck there is on the bottom, but I also suspect any item tossed in that drink would soon be covered. Dredging would be most interesting.

[eriedearie]

Well, I know for a fact that there's a diamond wedding ring set that's in the Detroit River. One of my friends got mad at her husband, took her rings off, and threw them in the river. This was around 1971.

I would think there would be all manner of exciting finds lurking in the Detroit River muck.

[skyl4rk]

Theres quite a bit to be found in the Rouge River as well. I had to laugh at a news report where Police divers were searching for a pistol used in a robbery, diving at the end of Dearborn Street. They found dozens of pistols, knives, rifles and an Escalade.

[stasu1213]

It must be deep enough to sail freights and soon to be small cruise ship once the port authority opens next year

[Sludgedaddy]

One of the posters on this forum claims to be the founder of The Black Justice League. To solve the question of how deep is the Detroit River and what might lie on it's bottom, I suggest Mr.BlkSoulX contact Blacquaman, another member of The Black Justice League ,I surmise, and do some extensive "soul searching".

[rajdet]

I Love this thread! I am pretty much a Detroit River rat. Just got home from swimming in it as a matter of fact. I have had the pleasure of scuba diving it on both the US [[permit needed) and the Canadian sides from Belle Ilse to the Ambassador bridge. It's not that deep but the bottom is murky except on days that there in a wind from the east. The bottom is pretty much littered with prohibition area pint liquor bottles, many of them with the cork still on. They are very easy to find. On the Canadian side right in front of the Seagrams plant there is a huge anchor that might be 15 feet across. Except for the bottom the river is pretty clear, the shallowness of Lake St Clair and the river itself acts as a filter, also the zebra muscles have cleared things up quite a bit.
Philm, thanks for the jpeg. I remember my father taking my sister and I to the riverfront as a very young child that night to see the Montrose sink.

[eriedearie]

I Love this thread! I am pretty much a Detroit River rat. Just got home from swimming in it as a matter of fact. I have had the pleasure of scuba diving it on both the US [[permit needed) and the Canadian sides from Belle Ilse to the Ambassador bridge. It's not that deep but the bottom is murky except on days that there in a wind from the east. The bottom is pretty much littered with prohibition area pint liquor bottles, many of them with the cork still on. They are very easy to find. On the Canadian side right in front of the Seagrams plant there is a huge anchor that might be 15 feet across. Except for the bottom the river is pretty clear, the shallowness of Lake St Clair and the river itself acts as a filter, also the zebra muscles have cleared things up quite a bit.
Philm, thanks for the jpeg. I remember my father taking my sister and I to the riverfront as a very young child that night to see the Montrose sink.

Have you ever brought anything to the surface? Gosh, I bet that anchor is something to see!

[rajdet]

Have you ever brought anything to the surface? Gosh, I bet that anchor is something to see!

I have a few liquor bottles.