With nothing but troubles on my connection at home, I have finally come to a point this morning where I can post the images which may show what Andy found to be true........yes indeed it is a lift-lock.......what makes this one is the fact that it takes no power at all to operate, other than the valve which controls flow from one hydraulic ram to the other......I even made sure to get a shot of the description of the workings for you all.........


The view from 50 yds away.......




This is how it works........




Loading a local tour boat in the chamber on the right.......




Left side coming down and driving the right side up......one vessel in the left and two in the right chamber....




After the full cycle and a short trip up the canal on the higher level they turned around to return with a few extra boats. Here you can see the bow proving that the upstream turn has been completed and the chambers are now returning with the right side coming down and the left is going up once again.




And finally you can see three of the four coming down the lower canal to head back in the direction of Lake Ontario.....

Méh... they could have build a ramp... 

Just kidding! Awesome piece of engineering!

Actually, the Belgians did build a ramp... in Ronquières. There large containers containing water + ships are hoisted to the upper part of the ramp.

http://www.binnenvaartinbeeld.com/ronquierres.htm