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ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — Plans are on track this summer for lock and dam closures for repairs along the Illinois River.
During these closures that begin in early July, no vessels will be able to pass through the affected locks.
“The main point is to upgrade and improve some of the infrastructure on the Illinois Waterway. All of these locks are approaching 80 to 90 years old, so there’s a lot of maintenance that needs to be done,” said Matthew Coffelt, Army Corps of Engineers Rock Island District program manager.
Unlike the Upper Mississippi River lock and dams that can be closed during the off-season for maintenance, the Illinois River remains open year-round unless there are some other unique circumstances such as flooding or other problems that impact the waterway.
“So, because of that, we had to come up with a way to dewater some of the sites and try to minimize the impact to not only the navigation industry but also to all of the stakeholders that utilize the Illinois Waterway,” Coffelt explained.
Here is the schedule for 2020 closures:
• LaGrange Lock and Dam — Closed July 1-Sept. 20. The work includes significant repairs to the crumbling concrete and steel structures within the lock chamber, and replacement of lock machinery.
• Peoria Lock and Dam — Closed July 6-Sept. 30. The lock chamber will be dewatered for maintenance and inspection.
• Starved Rock Lock and Dam — Closed July 1-Oct. 29. The lock chamber will be dewatered for lower and upper miter gate replacement.
• Marseilles Lock and Dam — Closed July 6-Oct. 29. The lock chamber will be dewatered for upper miter gate replacement.
• Dresden Island Lock and Dam — Partially closed July 6-Oct. 3 and Oct. 25-28, full closure Oct. 4-24. Upper bulkhead recess installation is planned.
Further work on the Brandon Road Lock and Dam and Dresden Island is planned for 2023.
“This originally started with a few projects that were upcoming, one of them being the major rehab at the LaGrange and there other sites that need to have major repairs,” Coffelt noted.
“In coordinating those efforts with industry, we quickly realized that the preference would be to try and consolidate as much of that work into one year rather than having a lock closed to dewater each over several years in a row, which is what it would have amounted to.
“So, the goal is to consolidate these efforts into the same year and that way freeing up years in between where we don’t have any sort of significant planned closures.”
Tom Heinold, Army Corps Rock Island District chief of operations, said an exception to the closures would occur at the LaGrange and Peoria locks if water levels become high enough that the wicket portions of the dams could be lowered for an open-pass. This would allow vessels to pass around the dam without using the lock.
“There is some risk associated with that. I don’t want to downplay that too much because there is a possibility that if the river were to drop we’d have to put the wickets up and we might pin or trap a tow within the Peoria and LaGrange pools. However, we’ll do all we can do to accommodate traffic if the weather conditions are appropriate,” Heinold said.
“The dams on the Illinois Waterway will continue to operate as they always have. We will maintain pools so that if there is this inter-pool traffic — recreational or commercial — they will be able to transit within the pools without restrictions. But if you want to get around a dam in a recreational craft they’ll have to portage and large tow boats will be pinned within those pools between the dams if the locks are closed.”
If any changes to the scheduled are needed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they will be posted on the Rock Island District website, www.mvr.usace.army.mil.