Chickamauga Project Set Back Three Years, Corps Says

Presentations by the Corps of Engineers at the April 13 meeting of the Inland Waterways Users Board in Pittsburgh, Pa., laid out a tale of delays and cost increases on ongoing lock and dam projects—including some that were declared to be “fully funded” just a short time ago but will now need additional funds.

A presentation by Kevin Jasper, chief of the Integrated Project Office of the Nashville Engineer District, laid out reasons for delays in the completion of the Chickamauga Lock Replacement Project, which was authorized in 2003 and reauthorized in 2018.

The total project cost estimate is now $954,396,000. About 2-1/2 years have been added to the lock operation date, and three years have been added to the original target project completion date. An additional $237 million is required to fully fund the project to current cost estimates, Jasper said.

The upstream approach wall, originally planned to be completed by May 2024, is only 12 percent completed. “Poor geology” has required revisions to planned foundation elevations; the contractor submitted a cost adjustment for redesign of the drill shafts. Design and contract solicitations are being developed with plans to be in a position to make an award in 2024, he said.

The contractor blamed COVID-19 and acute labor shortages for project delays. More cost increases could be coming. “Current market conditions, extended project duration and increased inflationary rates will have impacts on required cost to complete the project,” the presentation noted.

Kentucky Lock Addition

Jasper also presented on the Kentucky Lock Addition Project, reauthorized in the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 after being originally authorized in the 1996 WRDA. The project will add a new 1,200-foot lock on the landward side of the existing 600-foot lock, which is too small to accommodate current traffic. Delays at this lock are among the river system’s longest.

The downstream lock excavation contract was completed in October 2022. Construction is 14 percent complete on the downstream lock monolith contract, with a batch plant and conveyor system operating. The first mass placement of concrete mud mats is scheduled for this month. Completion of the downstream lock monolith contract is required to be completed by May 2027.

The project team is working on developing a contract whose scope will include approach walls, electrical/mechanical, buildings, bridges and utilities; the award is planned for FY25.

The current total project cost estimate indicates an additional $332 million is required to finish the project. Delays and resulting cost increases at the Kentucky Lock project were blamed on a “very competitive labor market with limited labor resources.”

Lock 25 Update

On the project to add a new 1,200-foot lock at Mississippi River Lock 25, the current lock operational target date is October 2034, with the current project fiscal completion by September 2036, according to the presentation by Col. Jesse Curry, commander of the Rock Island Engineer District. The district gives a total cost estimate of $732 million, but it notes that more detailed cost updates are considered “procurement-sensitive information” due to its Early Contractor Involvement-Integrated Design and Construction.

The presentation noted, “There is no authorized cost specific for Lock 25; the Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP) carries the authorized cost at the program level.”