Repairs Urged For Aging Dams, Locks In Pittsburgh Area

POSTED: 5:28 pm EDT July 3, 2008
UPDATED: 6:28 pm EDT July 3, 2008

BRADDOCK, Pa. -- The Army Corps of Engineers' Pittsburgh district has the largest lock and dam inventory in the country, and Pittsburgh is recognized as one of the largest inland river ports in the country based on tons of goods shipped.

But without funding for repairs, elected lawmakers said age could cause a failure to happen at one of the dams in the foreseeable future.

U.S. Reps. John Murtha, D-Pa., Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, and Jason Altmire, D-McCandless, met to discuss the situation Thursday at a Braddock lock on the Monongahela River that was being drained for repairs.

"They average 80 years old. They are critical to our waterways commerce," Altmire said. "There is no more important infrastructure need we have than maintaining our locks and dams, and we came together today to highlight that."

The Corps said the lock and dam system plays a key role in Pittsburgh's steel and coal industries, both of which rely heavily on river transportation.

The $1.2 billion Lower Monongahela River Project -- covering locks and dams 2, 3 and 4 -- includes construction of a new gated dam at Braddock and two new locks at Charleroi, removal of the Elizabeth locks and dams and channel dredging.

The Monongahela, Allegheny and Ohio rivers make up a sort of water highway upon which millions of tons of coal, chemicals, metals and other cargo are shipped annually. Locks are essentially water-driven elevators that lift and lower boats so they can pass through dams, which control water levels on the river enabling navigation.

Two of the Corps' 23 lock and dam facilities -- the 100-year-old lock and dam at Elizabeth and those at Emsworth -- are "critically near failure" and several others are "not much better," Col. Michael P. Crall, district engineer for the Pittsburgh district said Thursday.

Lawmakers said they understood the situation and would continue to press for funding.

"If we fail to do this, the rivers fail to work," said Murphy.

Murtha called the system "the lifeblood of western Pennsylvania and the nation."

When Congress first authorized upgrades to the lower Monongahela about 15 years ago, the cost was about $750 million. That's since increased to $1.2 billion, of which $488 million in funding has been secured, according to Murtha.

Much of the work has been deferred because of federal budget constraints.

Should the Emsworth dam fail, it would isolate river activity around Pittsburgh, Crall said. Public utilities, industry, ecosystems and water supply would be harmed. Nearly 12,000 jobs would at risk.

Two steel companies, five coal-fired power plants and the nation's largest coke plant would be affected, he said. Coke is coal-derived fuel used in steel production.

"The consumer will pay higher electricity costs as industry pays emergency rates for fuel delivery to power plants. Recreation on the rivers will be severely impacted," he said.

"Jobs will be lost within the navigation industry and the industries it supports. Our regional economy will suffer. Congestion on our highways will increase as more trucks are put on the road."

Without the river transportation system, U.S. Steel would require either 160 railroad cars or 700 trucks a day, instead of 10 barges, to serve its Clairton Coke plant, said Lisa Roudabush, general manager for United States Steel Corp.'s Mon Valley Works.

The infrastructure update was held at the Braddock lock and dam, where a massive steel hinge on one of the locks broke a month ago, hampering river traffic for a few days. The broken hinge was unrelated to the current closure of about a month for long-scheduled maintenance repairs.

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