![]() ![]() The crews also worked on support bars on the lock. 1 to make another upstream gate repair, fixing cracks that engineers discovered during a routine inspection. Prior to that, the Corps closed that same, main lock from the afternoon of Aug. Madison man charged with lewd behavior at Collinsville water park The Corps previously had shut down the main channel for two days in December to repair a lift gate. 3 so crews could dewater it and start work to replace the control system and lock wall control shelters, and repair some cracks on the upstream lift gate. These latest rounds of closures, and repairs, follow two months of work on the main channel earlier this year and a spate of work in 2017. The auxiliary lock cannot accommodate the longer fleets of barges that normally pass through the main lock, and so they have to be separated, and then lock through the adjacent, smaller facility in two operations. “Without tow haulage equipment, tows requiring double lockage will have to provide their own helper boat to pull cuts” of longer barge fleets, the release says. Tows, then, must resort to using the auxiliary lock in the meantime. July 27, but advises that estimate could change. Monday, the Corps closed down that main lock to dewater, inspect the damaged liftgate and possibly make preliminary repairs.Ī Corps press release says the main lock may be closed until 5 p.m. July 11, the Corps required all southbound vessels using the main lock to use an assist vessel, which was available at the site, in order to prevent further damage to the liftgate. ![]() Monday night’s incident follows a tow crash on July 6 in the main, 1,200-foot-long lock that damaged the upstream liftgate. When the auxiliary lock reopened after inspection and any needed repairs, Walker said there was a queue of nine southbound and eight northbound vessels awaiting passage through the lock. “Last night a tow had an issue and struck the wall and lost some barges into the Illinois muddy bank line.” “The main lock was undergoing maintenance work, so they were using the auxiliary lock,” said Romanda Walker, public affairs specialist at the U.S. “Know the waterways, take a water safety course, and wear a life jacket.”Įngineers believe the signs will help boaters all year since the buoys will be removed when winter comes.ĭownload the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.įollow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. “If one person goes over the dam, it’s one too many,” Conrad said. Engineers said the force of the water at the dam is so strong that a person can drown if they go under, even if they are wearing a life jacket. Experts said vigilance is key, as boats without a motor, like kayaks and canoes, could potentially drift. “Those, in conjunction with the signs, make a very complete, comprehensive safety system,” Conrad said.īuoys and signs near the Highland Park Bridge remind boaters to avoid a dam.īut those two components aren’t the only things needed to stay safe on the water. “If you’re just buzzing along, you wouldn’t see it because it just blends, and that’s why these buoys here, to stop anyone from going that way, I think is pretty important,” said Troy Garrison, who fishes in the area. The signs restrict boaters from going under part of the Highland Park Bridge to avoid the dam that many people don’t know is there. It does have that ‘infinity pool’ effect,” said David Conrad of the Army Corps of Engineers.Īs a result, boaters on the Allegheny River might have noticed something new: bright red warning signs, seven-feet high and 14-feet wide that can be seen from up to a half-mile away. Near the Highland Park Bridge, it’s the area of the Allegheny River Lock and Dam - a sharp drop-off on the other side of the bridge. The official start of summer means more boats in Pittsburgh’s three rivers, and as the Fourth of July approaches, plenty of people will be out and about enjoying the Allegheny.īut just like with any body of water, danger could be hidden in plain sight. ![]()
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