In the News

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continue to repair and improve locks and dams on the Mississippi River

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has long been an agency with a focus on the nation’s water resources, filling important roles such as being the country’s leading provider of outdoor recreational opportunities, flood risk management, providing hydropower, and maintaining the nation’s inland and coastal waterways for navigation.

It’s that last role that is at the center of the St. Louis District’s Navigation Business Line, which manages 300 miles of the Mississippi River, the lower 80 miles of the Illinois River, and 36 miles of navigable waterway on the Kaskaskia River encompassing approximately 50,000 acres of public land in both Illinois and Missouri, as well as 100,000 acres of open water. In addition to maintaining this acreage for environmental sustainability and public recreational access, The St. Louis District Rivers Project oversees the management of the Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary, the National Great Rivers Museum, a service base in St. Louis, and the operation of several motor vessels, including the Dredge Potter. In the St. Louis District, a major part of this critical mission is the operation of the last four locks and dams on the Mississippi River, which, in conjunction with 25 other such structures on the river up through Minneapolis, facilitate critical, year-round navigation on the nation’s largest and most significant river.

It’s with this navigation mission in mind that the Rivers Project is working to improve all four of its locks and dams through a Consolidated Lock Closure, which will begin this fall and run through next spring. This consolidation means routine maintenance and repairs, as well as crucial upgrades, will be scheduled to overlap with one another to minimize impact to river navigation and public recreation. Work being done during this time will include:

• A 7-day closure at Lock and Dam 24 in Clarksville, Missouri, for the installation of downstream miter gate lifting lugs.
• A 60-day closure, Jan 1 through March 2, 2025, at Lock and Dam 25 in Windfield, Missouri, for repairs such as concrete resurfacing of lock guide walls, installation of a downstream bulkhead sill beam, and dewatering of the lock chamber.
• A 90-day closure, Jan 1 through March 31, 2025, of the Melvin Price Locks and Dam 1,200-foot chamber in Alton, Illinois, for the installation of new lift gates and machinery.
• A 90-day closure, Jan 1 through March 31, 2025, of the Locks 27 1,200-foot chamber in Granite City, Illinois, for lock wall embedded metal repairs.

The work associated with these closures are scheduled to begin in November and last through the end of March 2025. And, while closures of Locks and Dams 24 and 25 will result in a closure to navigation for that section of the River, Melvin Price Locks and Dam and Locks 27 will remain open to traffic, as both locations have a second, 600-foot lock chamber available for use while the 1,200-foot chambers are under construction.

In addition to navigational changes, some public recreational areas will be affected during these closures. The Windfield Recreational Area, including the comfort station, public parking lot, and area below and west of the lock, will be closed for the duration of construction.  Maple Island Access Area in West Alton, Missouri will also be closed during the Melvin Price Locks and Dam closure, as it will be utilized by construction crews to access the dam. Public tours of the dam, given through the National Great Rivers Museum in Alton, Illinois, will also be modified for the safety of both the workers and the visiting public. While construction is on-going, some tours may not be able to access the top of the dam, and communication regarding these changes will occur as needed. It will not always be possible to announce these impacts from construction in advance.

While repair work is being done across all four of the Rivers Project’s locks and dams, the work occurring at the Melvin Price Locks and Dam is by far the most involved. The construction beginning this fall at Melvin Price will mark the start the third phase in a three-phase, multi-year major maintenance procedure to the structure’s lift gate that will lower overall maintenance costs over the long term. The first phase consisted of contracting for the new gate to be constructed, and the second, recently completed phase consisted of modifications to the dam’s overlook that would allow for the future installation of the new lift gate in phase three.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Rivers Project remains committed to ensuring efficient and safe navigation is available on the Mississippi River through its management of these last four locks and dams and will continue to communicate with the public throughout these initiatives regarding access to public lands and modifications of tours offered through the National Great Rivers Museum.

For more information, contact the Rivers Project Office at 636-899-2600.