<P> In August 2005 Ontario Power Generation, which is responsible for the Sir Adam Beck stations, started a major civil engineering project, called the Niagara Tunnel Project, to increase power production by building a new 12.7 - metre (42 ft) diameter, 10.2 - kilometre - long (6.3 mi) water diversion tunnel . It was officially placed into service in March 2013, helping to increase the generating complex's nameplate capacity by 150 megawatts . It did so by tapping water from farther up the Niagara River than was possible with the preexisting arrangement . The tunnel provided new hydroelectricity for approximately 160,000 homes . </P> <P> Ships can bypass Niagara Falls by means of the Welland Canal, which was improved and incorporated into the Saint Lawrence Seaway in the mid-1950s . While the seaway diverted water traffic from nearby Buffalo and led to the demise of its steel and grain mills, other industries in the Niagara River valley flourished with the help of the electric power produced by the river . However, since the 1970s the region has declined economically . </P> <P> The cities of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, and Niagara Falls, New York, United States, are connected by two international bridges . The Rainbow Bridge, just downriver from the falls, affords the closest view of the falls and is open to non-commercial vehicle traffic and pedestrians . The Whirlpool Rapids Bridge lies one mile (1.6 km) north of the Rainbow Bridge and is the oldest bridge over the Niagara River . Nearby Niagara Falls International Airport and Buffalo Niagara International Airport were named after the waterfall, as were Niagara University, countless local businesses, and even an asteroid . </P> <P> Niagara Falls have long been a source of inspiration for explorers, travelers, artists, authors, filmmakers, residents and visitors, few of whom realize the falls were nearly devoted solely to industrial and commercial use . In the 1870s, sightseers had limited access to Niagara Falls and often had to pay for a glimpse, and industrialization threatened to carve up Goat Island to further expand commercial development . Other industrial encroachments and lack of public access led to a conservation movement in the U.S. known as Free Niagara, led by such notables as Hudson River School artist Frederic Edwin Church, landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted, and architect Henry Hobson Richardson . Church approached Lord Dufferin, governor - general of Canada, with a proposal for international discussions on the establishment of a public park . </P>

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