Olmsted Locks and Dam News - Page 2 of 5

Olmsted Project Demolition Phase Continues Miter gates are removed from the former Locks and Dam 53 in December 2019. (Photo courtesy Louisville Engineer District)

Miter gates are removed from the former Locks and Dam 53 in December 2019. (Photo courtesy Louisville Engineer District)

Olmsted Project Demolition Phase Continues

July 2, 2021

Blasting at the former Dam 52 on the Ohio River near Brookport, Ill., is complete, with demolition at the former Dam 53 to begin within the next couple… Read More

Rock Island District Christens Towing Vessel The Quincy was previously the Gordon M. Stevens in the Louisville District.

Rock Island District Christens Towing Vessel

May 7, 2021

The Rock Island Engineer District christened the mv. Quincy at the Clat Adams Bicentennial Park in Quincy, Ill., April 30. Several hundred members of the public attended the ceremony,… Read More

Landowner, Corps Differ Over Cause Of Erosion Near Olmsted Property owners along the Ohio River in and near Olmsted, Ill., talk to investigators from the Corps of Engineers during a site visit in June 2020. (Photo courtesy of Sandra Thornton)

Property owners along the Ohio River in and near Olmsted, Ill., talk to investigators from the Corps of Engineers during a site visit in June 2020. (Photo courtesy of Sandra Thornton)

Landowner, Corps Differ Over Cause Of Erosion Near Olmsted

May 4, 2021

Property owners along the Ohio River near Olmsted, Ill., and the Corps of Engineers both agree riverbank erosion is occurring, but they disagree as to its cause. Sandra… Read More

What Really Is ‘Deferred Maintenance’?

March 24, 2021

The recent release of the “Infrastructure Report Card” by the American Society of Civil Engineers saw the inland waterways category bumped up to D+ from a straight D… Read More

ASCE: Infrastructure Grade ‘Improves’ To C- Untitled design (74)

ASCE: Infrastructure Grade ‘Improves’ To C-

March 5, 2021

“For the first time in 20 years, our infrastructure is out of the D range.” So proclaimed the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), which released its… Read More

Crew Uninjured After Boat Sinks Near Olmsted

December 31, 2020

Three crew members escaped injury when the mv. Betsy Wepfer sank December 27 just upstream from Olmsted Locks and Dam. The Coast Guard was notified at 8:38 p.m. Read More

Elections Over, Looking Ahead To WRDA WJ Editorial

Elections Over, Looking Ahead To WRDA

November 20, 2020

Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) gave a video presentation at this year’s Waterways Symposium November 12, one day after she learned that she had been nominated by Speaker Nancy Pelosi… Read More

Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association Holds Virtual Seminar

August 15, 2020

Members of the Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association (GICA) and stakeholders of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) gathered around their respective computers and smart devices August 6 for the… Read More

Olmsted Locks Through First 2020 Tows

—Photo courtesy of Louisville Engineer District Two upbound tows lock through at Olmsted Locks and Dam in September 2019. In June, the Corps raised the wickets for the first time in 2020, the fourth time since Olmsted opened in August 2018. By Shelley Byrne River traffic has locked through the twin 1,200-foot-by-110-foot chambers at Olmsted Locks and Dam for the first time this year and only the fourth time in the project’s history. “The weather conditions over the past couple of years have been unique, but raising it in June is much more normal,” said Ryan Lawrence, assistant operations manager for the Louisville Engineer District’s locks and dams project office. Olmsted personnel began raising the wicket dam June 18. It had also been raised in August 2018, August 2019 and November 2019, for a total of about 100 days, Lawrence said. The longest period was in August 2019, when the wicket dam held pool for 62 days at 301.5 feet above sea level, maintaining the pool 46 river miles, back to the Smithland Locks and Dam. A more typical elevation at Olmsted is 295 to 300 feet, based on a hinged pool that takes advantage of the natural slope of the river. Crews began lowering the wickets June 23 in response to rainfall in the upper Ohio Valley, but Lawrence said they may need to go back up again in another two weeks or so, given current forecasting that calls for less rain and a falling Mississippi River. The Corps said it expects to raise and lower the wickets an average of four times each season. “But so far we haven’t really had an average year,” Lawrence said. “You do what needs to be done to maintain the river elevations.” Given the weather so far this year, the Corps believes this season may be much closer to a typical one than the last two have been. However, Lawrence cautioned, “As we saw last year, there’s no real way to know. We look at historical trends and what we expect with weather patterns.” Although the Corps had plenty of experience with wickets at the former Locks and Dams 52 and 53, Olmsted modernized the process when it opened in August 2018 on the Ohio River near Olmsted, Ill. In addition, instead of a hook blindly grabbing for a bar on the wickets beneath the water, GPS and a sonar camera aid the process. “They really took the things they learned from 52 and 53 and implemented and improved those things here,” Lawrence said. The Corps has less experience using tainter gates combined with a wicket dam to control flow. Olmsted has five tainter gates, while the former projects didn’t have any, although other Ohio River locks and dams in the district have them. The gates can be opened and closed to maintain the pool without raising and lowering the wickets as frequently. “We’re definitely still learning that,” Lawrence said, adding that Olmsted has a unique combination of factors since high water on the Mississippi River can back up the Ohio to as far as Olmsted and since levels on Kentucky Lake on the Tennessee River, Lake Barkley on the Cumberland River and on the Ohio at Smithland

Olmsted Locks Through First 2020 Tows

June 26, 2020

River traffic has locked through the twin 1,200-foot-by-110-foot chambers at Olmsted Locks and Dam for the first time this year and only the fourth time in the project’s history. Read More

Free To A Good Home: 1938 Wicket Dam Maneuvering Boat For close to 80 years, LD 559 raised and lowered the timber wickets at Lock & Dam 52, near Brookport, Illinois. Now the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is looking for someone to take possession of the boat for a historical display. (Photo courtesy of the Louisville Engineer District)

For close to 80 years, LD 559 raised and lowered the timber wickets at Lock & Dam 52, near Brookport, Illinois. Now the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is looking for someone to take possession of the boat for a historical display. (Photo courtesy of the Louisville Engineer District)

Free To A Good Home: 1938 Wicket Dam Maneuvering Boat

April 10, 2020

The Louisville Engineer District is looking for a home for a historic, steam-powered maneuvering boat. LD 559 was put in service in 1938 as a maneuvering boat at… Read More