Corps Replaces Tainter Valves At Lock And Dam 2
The St. Paul Engineer District is replacing four tainter valves at Lock and Dam 2 in Hastings, Minn., as part of a $1.5 million project to replace aging navigation infrastructure on the Mississippi River.
Construction began September 28 and is expected to take about six weeks, according to Billy Thomson, a project manager with the St. Paul District. An eight-person maintenance and repair crew has been completing the work while keeping the lock open to commercial traffic. Thomson said Lock and Dam 2 averaged about 16 commercial lockages per day over a five-year period.
The tainter valves control the flow of water into and out of the lock chamber, raising and lowering the water level to match upstream and downstream elevations. The valves are routinely inspected and repaired, including steel repairs, blasting and painting. However, the existing valves had reached a point where additional repairs were no longer considered feasible, leading the Corps of Engineers to design and install new valves.
The district awarded a $1.5 million contract to OCCI Inc., doing business as Missouri Fabricators, Fulton, Mo., to fabricate the four replacement valves. Each valve weighs approximately 25,000 pounds.
The first of the four valves was completed by October 1, with crews continuing work on the remaining valves over the following weeks. The valves are critical to lock operations, allowing water to move into and out of the chamber so vessels can pass between different river elevations.
In 2025, Lock and Dam 2 recorded more than 1,200 commercial lockages. Vessels moving through the lock primarily transported commodities such as grain, corn and soybeans.
Thomson said the replacement project was intended to proactively address the aging infrastructure so the valves would be available to perform as designed when needed and help maintain the movement of commercial traffic on the Mississippi River.
Lock and Dam 2 is part of the St. Paul District’s Upper Mississippi River navigation system, which includes 13 locks and dams between Minneapolis and Guttenberg, Iowa. The district maintains a 9-foot navigation channel along the river.
Featured photo caption: Four newly fabricated tainter valves waited for installation at Lock and Dam 2 in Hastings, Minn., as part of a $1.5 million U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project to replace aging lock infrastructure. (Photos by Elizabeth Stoeckmann/St. Paul Engineer District)
