Wilson Lock Could Reopen By End Of June

Wilson Lock’s main navigational chamber could return to service as soon as June 30, more than a week ahead of the July 8 anticipated reopening.

The lock, located at Tennessee River Mile 259.4 in Florence, Ala., closed September 25 due to extensive cracking in the pintle areas of both downstream miter gates, along with some steel girders. Pintles are the spherical hinges on which the lock gates swing.

Brian Mangrum, chief of the Nashville Engineer District’s technical support branch, said during an industry call June 24 that crews completed installation of the pintle area bracing ahead of schedule.

“Completion of the bracing installation ahead of anticipated work durations is going to allow us to accelerate the process of removing equipment and rewatering the chamber a little over a week ahead of the current schedule shown here on the screen, and we are currently anticipating returning the main chamber to service on or about Monday, June 30,” he said.

Tennessee Valley Authority staff supported the Corps of Engineers crew with nondestructive testing of welds over the previous weekend, he said. Additionally, a paint crew applied a protective coating.

The last anticipated remaining work activity was the application of ceramic metal to the embedded wall quoin gaps to bring those into appropriate gap tolerances, Mangrum said. That work was to take place beginning June 25. Corps investigators believe that excessively large quoin gaps caused the force of the water to press against the gates instead of the entire lock, as designed, causing the gates to crack in multiple locations.

As of the morning of June 24, 284 barge cuts were in queue at the lock, Mangrum said. Brian Brewer, facility operations supervisor at Wilson Lock, said that number had been as high as the upper 300s at times previously. The Corps anticipates it will take up to two weeks to clear the queue.  Mangrum asked those with vessels in the queue currently to make any staffing changes or other preparations necessary to begin clearing the queue in the coming days.

Brewer said that, since some retirees came back to help out the district during the main chamber’s closure, he has the ability to staff the auxiliary lock from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., alongside the main chamber reopening, to help clear the queue faster. The auxiliary chamber will take some smaller tows as well as recreational traffic, he said.

The main chamber will begin by accepting downbound tows during daylight hours and upbound tows at night and will be open around the clock until the queue is cleared.

Nikki Berger, navigation program manager for TVA, said that after the queue is cleared the main Wilson chamber will close again to allow the installation of three ocean-going barges that will be spudded down to provide a temporary guidewall. A floating guidewall sank in 2021 when remnants of Hurricane Ida passed through the region.   

“It should be a two-week closure. It could potentially be sooner, but we’re anticipating a two-week closure,” Berger said.

The Corps and TVA anticipate locking operations at Wilson to return to normal around August 1.

Meanwhile, Mangrum said, the heavy capacity fleet that has been working at Wilson will move downriver to Pickwick Lock and Dam, Tennessee River Mile 206.7, for scheduled maintenance. Completing the work at Wilson more quickly than scheduled means the work at Pickwick is anticipated to begin July 7 instead of July 14, Mangrum said, adding that an updated notice to navigation interests would be sent out. Pickwick’s 110- by 600-foot auxiliary chamber will remain open throughout the closure of Pickwick’s main chamber, he said.

Cline Jones, executive director of the Tennesse River Valley Association, praised the work the Corps of Engineers and TVA had done to return Wilson’s main chamber to service as quickly as possible.

“We know this has been an ordeal, and it has not been easy on anyone,” he said.

The association said in a social media post, “TRVA sincerely appreciates the efforts of the Nashville District, the Heavy Capacity Fleet, the TVA Power Service Shop and stakeholders who have worked tirelessly and cooperatively over the last 10 months to return the Wilson main chamber to service on behalf of the citizens of the Tennessee Valley. Thank you!”