Red River Lock & Dam No. 2 To Close In May
Lock and Dam No. 2 on the Red River is set to close for 10 days of scheduled maintenance, beginning on May 1.
Lock and Dam No. 2 on the Red River (John H. Overton Lock) in Louisiana is part of the Red River Waterway, a navigation system featuring five locks and dams enabling commercial and recreational vessel traffic. The lock chamber measures 84 feet by 685 feet. It normally operates within a 24-hour, 7-days-a-week schedule. The lock is situated at mile 74.5 of the Red River. Lock operations are suspended if the upper pool reaches an elevation of 72.5 feet.
Maintenance crews from the Vicksburg Engineer District and its motorvessel fleet will arrive at the lock May 1, according to K.C. Ellis, supervisory facility operations specialist at Vicksburg. During the week of May 4, crews will begin sand pumping in front of the upstream miter gates. This work will cause some intermittent daylight closures or delays as they work to prep the bulkhead slots and seals for the closure.
On May 11, maintenance crews will set bulkheads to dewater the upstream gate for maintenance. The upstream gates have several items that crews must address. The lower river side miter gate sector gear arm must be removed to allow repairs.
While the lock is dewatered, the Vicksburg District’s Structures Section will be onsite inspecting the gates. Once all maintenance items have been addressed, teams will remove the bulkheads and open the structure to navigation.
