The Peoria-area’s historic link in the supply chain is getting some much-needed upgrades.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers closed the Peoria Lock and Dam on the Illinois River in late June for a summer-long dewatering and maintenance project that is expected to be finished in October.
During a tour of the Creve Couer complex last week, Rock Island District commander Col. Steve Sattinger said the project will help keep river traffic moving effectively.
“The work we’re doing now really allows us to reassure the industry that the system is reliable,” said Sattinger. “We should get great service out of the parts we’re installing, out of the work we’re doing for 25 more years.”
Crews are replacing miter gate anchorages, installing a compressed-air bubbler system, and rehabilitating hydraulic cylinders. Sattinger said all that work required the lock to be drained.
“Dewatering means that we’ve put bulk heads at either end of this lock chamber and pumped all the water out and lowered the water level by about 25 feet so that we can get to the floor of the lock and really get our eyes on the equipment,” he said.
The Peoria Lock and Dam was built in 1939 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The last dewatering occurred more than three decades ago in 1987.
Along with Peoria, work is being done on four other lock-and-dams on the Illinois Waterway connecting Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River. Sattinger said engineers coordinated with the shipping and agriculture industries to develop a 90-to-120-day construction window while minimizing any adverse impact.
“We worked very closely with them to get it around the flood season and to get it around the primary seasons when they’re either moving fertilizer in or they are moving agricultural products out,” said Sattinger.
“It took years for our partners really to be prepared to do that work. That was why it was so important one, that we stick to our schedule, and two, that we spent so long in advance talking to those partners.”
While COVID-19 has added an unexpected challenge to the project, Sattinger said workers are following appropriate health and safety measures.
“We’re doing everything that all the industries are doing to try and prevent the spread of this disease, and so far we’ve been very fortunate,” he said. “But again, there is a lot of summer left to go and we’re keeping an eye on the work we’re doing here.”
Sattinger said the project remains on track to be completed in October.
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