Dardanelle Lock Reopens Following Allision
Dardanelle Lock and Dam on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (MKARNS) reopened at 9:09 a.m. December 3 after being closed 12 days because of a tow alliding with a lock gate.
The mv. St. Bartholomew, owned by Marquette Transportation, was entering the chamber downbound when its tow of nine barges loaded with rock struck the upper miter gate about 10:15 p.m. November 21, said Jay Townsend, spokesman for the Little Rock Engineer District. The Coast Guard was investigating.
No one was injured.
The allision caused damage to vertical I beams across the gate.
“Several of those were damaged to the point where they were sheared or were bent,” Townsend said.
Damaged portions of three of the girders had to be cut out and replacement portions welded in, he said.
Some metal crossmembers were also damaged, but engineers determined they could be pinned to different vertical members to speed the repairs, Townsend said.
The damage constituted “significant structural damage above and below the waterline, requiring immediate closure to ensure safety and reliability,” the district posted on social media.
Crews worked around the clock in 12-hour shifts to repair the damage, which required the upper pool to be lowered from its elevation of 337.8 feet to 336 feet.
Townsend said that some employees interrupted their scheduled time off over the Thanksgiving holidays, driving hours to procure the necessary parts and working in cold and rainy weather so that work could be completed in a timely manner. Meanwhile, the queue of tows waiting to lock through reached nine vessels as of December 2. The Corps anticipated it would take 24 to 48 hours of constant locking to clear the queue.
“Today’s reopening of Dardanelle Lock is a testament to the dedication and sacrifice of our crews and engineers,” Col. Patrick Caukin, commander of the Little Rock District, said December 3. “Many team members returned early from holiday leave and even left deer camps to get this work done. Their commitment reflects the professionalism and resilience expected of America’s engineers, and I could not be prouder of their efforts.”
The district noted that the MKARNS is a vital corridor for regional commerce and national supply chains, moving more than 12 million tons of commodities annually. Ports along the system serve an 18-state region that stretches as far west as California and as far north as Montana. The 445-mile system includes 18 locks and dams, four federal hydropower plants and four municipal hydropower plants. The MKARNS also connects five public ports in Oklahoma and Arkansas to the Mississippi River, allowing goods to reach domestic and international markets.
————
Featured photo caption: A November 25 photo shows damage to the upper miter gate at Dardanelle Lock on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System after a tow pushing nine barges of rock struck the upper miter gate about 10:15 p.m. November 21. (Photos by Jay Townsend/Little Rock Engineer District)
