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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

Olmsted Project Wins Major Engineering Award The $3 billion Olmsted Locks and Dam became fully operational in August 2018. The Louisville district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently won a top 10 national award from the American Society of Civil Engineers for the project.

The $3 billion Olmsted Locks and Dam became fully operational in August 2018. The Louisville district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently won a top 10 national award from the American Society of Civil Engineers for the project.

Olmsted Project Wins Major Engineering Award

March 23, 2020

The Olmsted Locks and Dam project has received a national award as one of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ top 10 outstanding engineering projects. Officials representing the… Read More

The Importance Of Efficient Funding Of River Infrastructure WJ Editorial

The Importance Of Efficient Funding Of River Infrastructure

September 27, 2019

Among the graphics shown by Warren Preston, deputy chief economist of USDA, at a recent conference at the University of Missouri-St. Louis focusing on agricultural market and supply chains,… Read More

Users Board Wants New Bayou Sorrell Study

June 7, 2019

The Inland Waterways Users Board gathered May 23 in New Orleans, La., for its 91st meeting since Congress established the board as part of the Water Resources Development Act… Read More

University Professors Publish Ohio River Paper In Conservation Journal

January 18, 2019

For more than a decade now, Dr. Lois Wright Morton and Dr. Kenneth Olson have been working together to publish a series of articles on the impact of flooding… Read More

2018: The Annual Review Of Waterways Events 2018 Annual Review

2018: The Annual Review Of Waterways Events

December 14, 2018

The year 2018 was one full of historic milestones for the inland waterways, marking both ends and beginnings. A major lock and dam construction project that had threatened… Read More

Bumpy Year Saw Many Barge Industry Wins WJ Editorial

Bumpy Year Saw Many Barge Industry Wins

December 14, 2018

As 2018 draws to a close, the barge industry and its partners and advocates have good reason to be proud of their accomplishments, many of which piled up in… Read More

Inland Waterways Users Board Gets Corps Project Updates

December 7, 2018

The 89th meeting of the Inland Waterways Users Board (IWUB) took place in St. Charles, Mo., on November 29. It was supposed to be addressed by Maj. Gen Scott Spellmon, but… Read More

Conrad To Build Backup Wicket Lifter For Olmsted Wicket Lifter Keen

Conrad To Build Backup Wicket Lifter For Olmsted

November 16, 2018

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded Morgan City, La.-based Conrad Shipyard a $9.89 million firm-fixed-price contract to build a backup wicket lifter for Olmsted Locks and Dam… Read More