River traffic shut down as Corps struggles to fix dam
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paducah Sun
September 13, 2017
http://www.paducahsun.com/news/local/river-traffic-shut-down-as-corps-struggles-to-fix-dam/article_29220381-f956-5394-abdc-a02a74f7fed1.html
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paducah Sun
September 13, 2017
http://www.paducahsun.com/news/local/river-traffic-shut-down-as-corps-struggles-to-fix-dam/article_29220381-f956-5394-abdc-a02a74f7fed1.html
Ohio River traffic at Lock and Dam 52 was suspended last week and could remain shut down for several more days or weeks as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers works to repair broken wickets.
Wickets are 4-foot-wide steel or timber panels that, when raised, create the dam wall.
The dam, according to Corps public information officer Carol Labashosky, has 487 timber wicket gates that span the width of the river.
There is currently a roughly 700-foot -- or 175 wicket -- gap in the dam, making it difficult for the Corps to maintain an operational pool level.
"Several wickets that comprise the dam have broken away, creating gaps in the wicket gate," Labashosky said. "And the river is flowing at a velocity that has been too high to go in and fix that."
On Tuesday, the Corps announced the Barkley Lake Dam on the Cumberland River would begin restricting its water flow early Thursday morning to lower the pool level at Dam 52 to facilitate repairs.
Similar flow restrictions were announced by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which said the Kentucky Lake Dam also would be reducing its flow on Thursday.
While those flows are reduced, Labashosky said the Brookport pool levels would lower significantly, enabling crews to go in, make repairs and raise the dam. If successful, she said, river conditions could return to normal as soon as Sunday.
If unsuccessful, Labashosky said the Corps is evaluating other steps.
"We've got a couple of options that are on the table," she said. "One involves lowering the dam in its entirety and installing a rock dike deflector above the problem area to divert some of the water away from the area that needs to be repaired."
That could take anywhere from 18 to 24 days to complete.
Labashosky described these options as "near-term fixes" to "rehab the dam and get it operating." The long-term solution to the dam's ongoing problems, she said, is to complete the Olmsted Dam project near Ballard County. Completion is projected for next fall.
According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Dam 52 is one of the last two remaining 1920s-era locks and dams on the Ohio River that uses a system of wicket gates during times of low water to maintain a stable pool of at least 9 feet for commercial and recreational navigation.
The timber wickets are laid down on the riverbed during times of high water and traffic simply passes over them. During low water, however, they are raised manually by personnel aboard a steam barge to raise the dam and create a pool for navigation.
As wickets break, forming holes in the dam, maintaining the required minimum depth of 9 feet to accommodate large commercial traffic becomes more difficult. This has been an ongoing problem for the long outdated Dam 52, which was supposed to be replaced by the Olmsted Dam near Ballard County almost 20 years ago.
According to the New York Times, Lock No. 52 is the busiest spot on America's inland waterways, where traffic from the eastern United States meets and passes traffic from the Gulf Coast and Mississippi River. More than 80 million tons of grain, coal, fuel and other goods — worth over $22 billion — move through the Brookport lock each year.
Dam 52 and its "sister dam" No. 53 near Smithland, the Times reported, have been waiting to be demolished since 1998, when a new mega-dam near Olmsted, Illinois, was expected to be finished.
Authorized in 1988, the Olmsted project is now far over budget and many years behind schedule. According to the Times, the project was expected to cost $775 million and be finished in 1998. Instead, it is now projected the Olmsted Dam could cost $2.9 billion and be operational in October 2018 at the earliest.
"We're forward looking to the fall of 2018," Labashosky said. "Until then, we will continue to repair and maintain Dam 52 to keep traffic moving."
Wickets are 4-foot-wide steel or timber panels that, when raised, create the dam wall.
The dam, according to Corps public information officer Carol Labashosky, has 487 timber wicket gates that span the width of the river.
There is currently a roughly 700-foot -- or 175 wicket -- gap in the dam, making it difficult for the Corps to maintain an operational pool level.
"Several wickets that comprise the dam have broken away, creating gaps in the wicket gate," Labashosky said. "And the river is flowing at a velocity that has been too high to go in and fix that."
On Tuesday, the Corps announced the Barkley Lake Dam on the Cumberland River would begin restricting its water flow early Thursday morning to lower the pool level at Dam 52 to facilitate repairs.
Similar flow restrictions were announced by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which said the Kentucky Lake Dam also would be reducing its flow on Thursday.
While those flows are reduced, Labashosky said the Brookport pool levels would lower significantly, enabling crews to go in, make repairs and raise the dam. If successful, she said, river conditions could return to normal as soon as Sunday.
If unsuccessful, Labashosky said the Corps is evaluating other steps.
"We've got a couple of options that are on the table," she said. "One involves lowering the dam in its entirety and installing a rock dike deflector above the problem area to divert some of the water away from the area that needs to be repaired."
That could take anywhere from 18 to 24 days to complete.
Labashosky described these options as "near-term fixes" to "rehab the dam and get it operating." The long-term solution to the dam's ongoing problems, she said, is to complete the Olmsted Dam project near Ballard County. Completion is projected for next fall.
According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Dam 52 is one of the last two remaining 1920s-era locks and dams on the Ohio River that uses a system of wicket gates during times of low water to maintain a stable pool of at least 9 feet for commercial and recreational navigation.
The timber wickets are laid down on the riverbed during times of high water and traffic simply passes over them. During low water, however, they are raised manually by personnel aboard a steam barge to raise the dam and create a pool for navigation.
As wickets break, forming holes in the dam, maintaining the required minimum depth of 9 feet to accommodate large commercial traffic becomes more difficult. This has been an ongoing problem for the long outdated Dam 52, which was supposed to be replaced by the Olmsted Dam near Ballard County almost 20 years ago.
According to the New York Times, Lock No. 52 is the busiest spot on America's inland waterways, where traffic from the eastern United States meets and passes traffic from the Gulf Coast and Mississippi River. More than 80 million tons of grain, coal, fuel and other goods — worth over $22 billion — move through the Brookport lock each year.
Dam 52 and its "sister dam" No. 53 near Smithland, the Times reported, have been waiting to be demolished since 1998, when a new mega-dam near Olmsted, Illinois, was expected to be finished.
Authorized in 1988, the Olmsted project is now far over budget and many years behind schedule. According to the Times, the project was expected to cost $775 million and be finished in 1998. Instead, it is now projected the Olmsted Dam could cost $2.9 billion and be operational in October 2018 at the earliest.
"We're forward looking to the fall of 2018," Labashosky said. "Until then, we will continue to repair and maintain Dam 52 to keep traffic moving."
