In the News

February isn’t the ideal month for workers into dive into the Mississippi River and upgrade transportation infrastructure, but Jim Cook says there’s no choice.

“We can’t do this during the navigation season,” said Cook, a project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “We can’t afford six weeks of closures.”

Workers for the Corps of Engineers have been busy at Lock and Dam 7 since early December installing newly fabricated anchorages in preparation for new miter gates that will be installed later this summer. The miter gates act as the doors that allow commercial and recreational craft to move through the lock and dam. A different set of roller gates control the water level.

Cook says it would be much easier to conduct the work during summer but that would create a logjam for the nearly 9 million tons of cargo that move through the lock and dam every year.

“We do this work during winter to avoid disrupting river traffic during the navigation season,” he said.

The project depends on roughly 10 to 15 corps of engineer employees who work in often bitterly cold conditions. They include divers who plunge into the frigid Mississippi River.

“It’s difficult, dangerous work, so these guys are professionals,” Cook said. “I wouldn’t want to be in the water right now.”

The new miter gates will replace the original gates that were installed in 1937.

“The structure is nearly at the end of its design life,” Cook said. “It’s been decades since we’ve done the work on the anchorages themselves.”

Cook said the new gates will be 50% heavier than the old gates. While boaters who pass through the lock and dam probably won’t notice anything different, Cook said the new gates will be easier to repair and maintain.

“They will be more resilient and resistant to damage,” he said.

Cook said the gate installation can’t be done during the winter. He said they will be installed during four separate 12-hour periods, most likely on weekdays. The lock and dam will be closed to traffic during those times.

Installing the anchorages is estimated to cost $1.5 million. Work is expected to be complete by the end of February.

During 2024, there were 1,549 separate navigations through Lock and Dam 7. Those lockages included 4,360 cargo barges. Any watercraft, ranging from large commercial vessels to small fishing boats, can pass through the lock and dam free of charge.

The Corps works to maintain a 9-foot channel through 13 locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi River from Minneapolis to Guttenberg, Iowa. The navigation season began March 17 and ended Dec. 1.