By NANCY LYBARGER
Indiana Correspondent

MOUNT VERNON, Ind. — Two projects are in the works for the J.T. Myers Locks and Dam, located west of Mount Vernon and about three miles west of Uniontown on the Kentucky side and just above the convergence of the Ohio and the Wabash rivers.

The dam is the fourth in the series of locks-and-dams from Louisville, Ky., to the Illinois border. The locks and dam here are in serious need of restoration and enlargement, according to John Neville and Mike Holley, representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency in charge of inland waterways.

Currently the system consists of the main lock, a 1,200-foot long structure, and auxiliary lock, which is 600 feet long. Both locks are 110 feet wide, according to Wayne McDonald of the Mount Vernon Barge Service. If a tow boat is pushing a 15-barge load (three across and five deep), the width would be 105 feet across.

In the main lock, the water can fill or drop a total of 37 feet, depending whether the tow is going up- or downstream and how high the water in the river level happens to be.

For the recent Indiana Corn and Soybean barge tour (see related story), the barge locked in and tied off to go downstream. Tour participants were able to measure the drop in the water as it dropped 18 feet. For an 18-foot drop in that lock, 2.3 million cubic feet of water rushed out the front of the dam.

Currently, according to McDonald, 70 million tons of commodities travel annually through the locks and dam. The problem is wear and tear and delayed maintenance.

According to the report to be submitted to the Corps’ headquarters, inspections have disclosed large holes in the reinforced concrete stilling basin, piers and baffle blocks within several gate bays of the dam. Failure of a stilling basin could result in loss of the navigation pool, which would disrupt commercial traffic in low river stages.

The report states that analyses indicated a 10 percent chance that a stilling basin could fail in the next three years, and a 100 percent possibility of failure by 2022. The Corps’ report estimates the project will take three years to complete during annual low-water seasons.

In addition to the stilling basin damage that is caused by debris in the river, the report identifies other areas of concern. Seizing of the hinged-brackets that attach hoisting cables to the 10 tainter gates in the system and a variety of major maintenance on operating machinery, structural mechanical and electrical components are all on the list.

Estimated cost for the project is $45 million, according to the report. Expenses would be equally shared by federal appropriations and the Inland Waterway Trust Fund. If funding is available, the project could be completed in 2015.

The Corps received funding to award contracts for construction of the upstream lock approach widening and Resident Engineer’s building through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Originally the project to lengthen the 600-foot auxiliary lock chamber to 1,200 feet was approved in the Water Resources Development Act of 2000. Holley said the additional lock capacity will expedite tow traffic. The estimated cost of the project is $343 million and if funding is available, should be complete in 2019.

At this point, the approach widening contract has been awarded and is scheduled for completion next fall. The Resident Engineer’s building is expected to be finished next summer. Other site preparation contracts are yet to be awarded.

One of the contracts will build a wetland to replace some of the wildlife area taken by the expansion project. Bald eagles have successfully been reintroduced to the southwestern Ohio River basin – one was seen hunting above the river as the tour’s barge passed areas of planted habitat between Mount Vernon and the locks and dam, to the delight of the spectators.