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News Articles on Chickamauga Lock
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Chattanooga Times Free Press
Alexander backs funding for continued lock work
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
By Dave Flessner , Staff Writer
Continued federal funding for a bigger, replacement lock at Chickamauga
Dam is needed to help sustain river navigation, improve the region's
economy and control air pollution, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.,
said Monday.
During a tour of the 67-year-old lock on Monday, Sen. Alexander said
that soon the crumbling lock no longer will be safe to operate, and it
must be replaced. He defended the bigger replacement lock, noting that it
should help keep 100,000 trucks off of Interstate 75 by allowing more
cargo to be shipped by more fuel-efficient barge traffic on the river.
"We do need to get wasteful Washington spending under control, but
spending to rebuild a lock that may have to be closed because it is
dangerous is not wasteful," he said. "That's smart spending,
because it increases jobs, reduces air pollution and increases safety.
This is absolutely essential for East Tennessee and for our country."
For such spending on the lock to continue beyond this fall, however,
Congress must approve spending bills for the fiscal year that began last
week. President Bush also has threatened to veto some appropriations
measures moving through Congress that he contends are too expensive and
include too many pork projects.
Sen. Alexander, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee who
helped write the Senate's version of the Energy and Water spending
package, said the measure "keeps spending at an appropriate level,
and I would hope that the president doesn't veto it."
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Chattanoogan
October 8, 2007
Alexander Visits Chickamauga Lock To Check
Progress
by Dana Wilbourn
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) was briefed onsite on Monday by the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers on the progress of the new Chickamauga lock. Sen.
Alexander said he was present for the groundbreaking in 2005 and just
wanted to see if the project was staying on schedule.
“There are a lot of ways to talk about the importance of replacing
the old Chickamauga lock as soon as we can,” said the senator. “One of
the ways is to say that when we have the new Chickamauga lock we will
remove 100,000 large trucks off of I-75 each year.”
Sen. Alexander said a second way to stress the importance of the new
lock is the reduction in air pollution. “Chattanooga, Knoxville, and the
Great Smokey Mountain region have problems with air pollution,” he said.
“The more we have cargo going up and down the river, the less air
pollution we will have.”
A third area of importance Sen. Alexander mentioned was jobs. “We
will be able to have nine times as much cargo go through the new lock
(compared to the old lock). That means that not just the Chattanooga area
but all industry in East Tennessee will be impacted by the lock.”
Sen. Alexander also addressed a safety concern. He said the concrete of
the current lock is expanding due to a condition known as aggregate
concrete growth, leading to stability concerns throughout the structure.
The concrete growth will continue to affect lock operations and could
eventually result in the closure of the old lock, he said.
“We are keeping the old lock open as short a period of time as we can
while building the new lock,” Sen. Alexander said. “My job as a member
of the Senate and the Appropriations Committee along with Congressman Wamp
(who is also on the Appropriations Committee) and with Sen. Bob Corker
(who has a special interest because of his history as mayor of
Chattanooga) is to make sure the project stays on schedule. I compliment
the Corps of Engineers and TVA for doing a good job.”
The new Chickamauga lock is a $310 million project and is scheduled to
open in 2010. It is anticipated that 4.3 million more tons of cargo could
pass through the new lock annually.
The new lock will be 110 feet wide by 600 feet long. The current lock
passes one barge through at a time and the new lock will pass nine barges
through at a time.
Sen. Alexander worked with former Sen. Bill Frist and Congressman Wamp
to get funds for the Chickamauga lock project included in the President’s
budget beginning in Fiscal Year 2006. Since then, Sen. Alexander has
worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to keep an aggressive
maintenance schedule for the aging lock to prevent a shutdown of the old
lock while the new lock is constructed.
Dana Wilbourn
dbwilbourn@yahoo.com
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Chattanooga Times Free Press
Monday, February 05, 2007
Lock funding likely on target
President to unveil the 2008 budget today while
Congress works to finish funding plan for this year.
By Edward Lee Pitts Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON —
Congress’ efforts to fund the federal government in its current fiscal
year through one multibillion-dollar spending bill will not jeopardize the
ongoing Chickamauga Lock replacement project, according to area lawmakers.
"There should not be a delay," said U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn.,
of the $349 million project now slated to be completed in 2013. But
efforts to build a new federal courthouse in Nashville and attach the name
of former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., may be a casualty of
Congress’ inability to pass its annual spending bills last year.
Lawmakers say they are hopeful President Bush’s budget for the 2008
fiscal year, to be unveiled today, will include the full $35 million
projected to be needed in 2008 to keep the lock project on schedule.
"Budgets should definitely take into account projects that are
under way," said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. "We need to make sure
that when commitments have been made … that they are seen through."
Even though the president today will release his proposed budget for
the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are
finalizing federal spending funds for the current fiscal year —
some four months late.
The House last week passed a $463.5 billion continuing resolution to
pay for federal spending through the end of the fiscal year. Since
Congress did not complete most of its appropriation bills last year, the
resolution is required to avoid a partial government shutdown Feb. 15. The
$463.5 billion measure now awaits Senate action.
The resolution does not allocate funds for specific projects; dollars
are directed to specific agencies, such as the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, which make allocations.
The Chickamauga lock project’s $27 million for fiscal 2007 was in
President Bush’s budget released last year and was included in both
House and Senate versions of the annual energy and water spending bills.
Since the project is under way and contracts are awarded, the Corps of
Engineers is reluctant to cut the funds, said Wayne Huddleston, the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers manager for the project.
"The priority of the Chickamauga Lock has been high enough to keep
us from being affected by the continuing resolution," he said.
"We’ve been cleared to go ahead with the full $27 million."
...
E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com
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Chattanooga Times Free Press
Friday, June 30, 2006
Senate panel OKs lock funds
By Edward Lee Pitts Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON —
A Senate committee approved $27 million to fund the ongoing Chickamauga
Lock replacement project for next fiscal year on Thursday, setting up an
expected vote of the full Senate later this year.
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the annual energy and
water spending bill for fiscal 2007, which includes funding for the
continuation of the lock replacement project.
The full Senate is expected to act on the spending bill before Congress
finishes its calendar year.
"Chickamauga Lock is critically important to economic development
and job creation throughout East Tennessee, and I’m glad that it’s
closer to becoming a reality," said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said he, Sen. Alexander and Reps.
Zach Wamp and John Duncan, all R-Tenn., will continue their efforts to
ensure the necessary resources are devoted to building a new Chickamauga
Lock.
"Moving forward with construction is essential to the region’s
transportation infrastructure," Sen. Frist said.
The House passed its version of the spending bill last month.
Rep. Wamp said he is optimistic the $27 million will not be changed in
the bill’s final version because both the House and Senate versions have
the same funding level for the lock project. The $318 million project is
expected to be completed in 2013. The $27 million would be used to
construct a temporary dam to provide a dry riverbed for workers to
construct the new lock, according to Wayne Huddleston, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers manager for the project.
Workers are nearing the halfway point of completing the project’s
initial phase, which is the relocation of Lake Resort Drive and two
bridges near the lock, Mr. Huddleston said.
When finished, the new 110-by 600-foot lock would be able to hold nine
barrages at once. The current deteriorating 65-year-old lock holds one
barge at a time.
Some congressional watchdog groups, such as Citizens Against Government
Waste, have criticized the project, labeling it as pork.
For the first time this year, President Bush included the money needed
for the lock project in his annual budget request that was submitted in
February.
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Chattanooga Times Free Press
November 21, 2004
Over $18
Million Approved For Chickamauga Lock
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Bill Frist
(R-TN) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) along with Congressmen Zach Wamp (R-TN) and
John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN) today announced that more than $18 million for the
Chickamauga Lock has been included in the Fiscal Year 2005 Omnibus
Appropriations Conference Report, which passed the House and Senate on
Saturday.
Rep. Wamp said, "The work we have done this year to ensure administration
support of the Chickamauga Lock replacement in the 2006 budget and this team
effort to put in all the 2005 money to start this project in this fiscal year
is commendable. Team Tennessee is doing great work for the people of the
Tennessee Valley in Congress, and I am looking forward to seeing the
replacement of the Chickamauga Lock commence this spring and go forward."
Rep. Wamp, who serves as Vice Chairman of the Energy and Water Appropriation
Subcommittee in the House, said, "This allows us to actually begin
construction next year."
He said it is a seven-year construction project costing well over $300
million.
He noted that the Bush administration first did not include the Chickamauga
Lock funding in the recommended budget, but he said Congress put in the full
amount. He said the administration has now agreed to include full second-year
funding for Chickamauga Lock in the next budget.
Rep. Wamp said, "This has been my Number One priority. It's a big day for the
Tennessee River system, for the Tennessee Valley and for the nation."
“Chickamauga Lock is vital to the economy of East Tennessee and this funding
will ensure that construction remains on schedule,” said Frist. “The lock is
truly a gateway to commerce in Tennessee and remains a critical component to
economic growth in the region. I applaud the conferees for supporting the
ongoing commitment to building a replacement lock that meets future demands.”
“It is past time for us to repair and upgrade the Chickamauga Lock,” said
Alexander. “Engineers have told us that without this work, the lock will
deteriorate over the next decade – jeopardizing safety along with water
transport and commerce in East Tennessee. I am pleased that Congress has
recognized and responded to this critical need. I will continue to work with
Senator Frist and Congressmen Wamp and Duncan to complete this important
project.”
“Funding for the construction of a new lock is an important victory for East
Tennessee,” said Duncan. “This project is vital for our region’s economy,
benefits the environment, and improves the safety of our roadways. I
appreciate the efforts of Senator Frist, Senator Alexander, and Congressman
Wamp and look forward to continuing our work on this important matter.”
Of the $18.08 million in total funding for Chickamauga Lock, $17 million will
be used to continue the engineering, design and construction of a new lock and
$1.08 million will be used to operate and maintain the existing lock.
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have
estimated that the Chickamauga Lock can continue to operate until 2010 if
adequate maintenance and repair work is performed on an annual basis. The
closure of the lock would cut off 313 miles of navigable waterways on the
upper Tennessee River.
The 110-foot x 600-foot replacement lock, which will accommodate nine jumbo
barges in one lockage, will dramatically improve navigation on the Tennessee
River. The Corps of Engineers completed a feasibility study in April 2002
which supported the replacement of the existing lock.
This year the funds will be used to acquire lands, complete utility
relocations, initiate road and bridge relocation, and continue subsurface
exploration and design for the new lock.
Once approved by both the House and Senate, the Omnibus bill will go to the
President for his signature.
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Cover Story
Head Lock
Neglect of locks and dams could result
in a failure of the waterway system.
By Pamela Glass, Washington Correspondent
It’s 1907. There is no television. The Model T isn’t yet on the
road. Oklahoma becomes the 46th U.S. state, and locks and dams are
built along the lower Monongahela River in southwestern
Pennsylvania.
Fast forward to 1921. The U.S. ends World War I, declaring peace
with Germany, Warren Harding takes over from Woodrow Wilson, and the
Inner Harbor Navigation Canal lock in New Orleans is built.
Jump ahead to 1930. Hostess Twinkies are invented, as are Scotch
tape and the jet engine. The Great Depression begins, and locks and
dams along the Upper Mississippi are built.
Seventy-five years later, SUVs are the rage and high-speed
Internet connects the world, yet many of America’s locks and dams
still date back to the times just mentioned. More than half are over
50 years old and have outlived their economic design lives. From
Illinois to Louisiana, from Pennsylvania to Kentucky, major segments
of the nation’s inland waterways system are in desperate need of
modernization, repair or maintenance to accommodate present and
future waterborne traffic. The infrastructure, many say, could face
a major collapse.
LOWER MONONGAHELA LOCKS IN DISREPAIR
A towboat pushing three hopper barges loaded with coal moves
smoothly toward Lock 4 along the Lower Monongahela River near
Charleroi, Pa., south of Pittsburgh.
Within minutes, the towboat and its cargo disappear behind
the mass of metal and concrete that makes up the lock’s chamber.
Minutes later, the downstream gate opens and the tow pushes
through and is on its way farther down river.
For tows, movement through the Lower Monongahela this day is
smooth and hassle free. But all is not well along the Lower
Mon’s Locks and Dams 2, 3 and 4, the first three navigation
projects on the river upstream of Pittsburgh. These locks, all
located within 10-20 miles of each other, are in serious
structural trouble. They are the three oldest operating
navigation facilities on the Lower Mon. Lock and Dam 2 was
completed in 1905, L&D 3 in 1907, and L&D 4 in 1932.
They’re old and are on their last legs, crumbling after
decades of use and little repair. The concrete on Lock 3’s
chambers at Elizabeth, Pa., is cracked and deteriorating due to
freezing and thawing. Things are so bad that some of the metal
supports stick out, forcing towboats to take special care not to
bump the edges and puncture a barge.
The walls of Lock 3 and 4 are built on oak timbers driven
into the river bottom. These antiquated foundations have
exceeded their useful lives. Recent monitoring of these walls
indicates a significant increase in movement because the timber
piles are unable to resist differential water pressures acting
on the walls. At times, this movement has been so severe that
large barges have become pinched inside the lock chambers as the
walls deflected inward due to water pressure.
Lock 3 is among the oldest structures operating in the entire
inland navigation system, and the most damaged among the nine
facilities along the Monongahela. The Army Corps of Engineers
says a failure is a strong possibility, which would severely
curtail commercial navigation and recreational boating.
Plans have been on the drawing boards since 1992 to modernize
the Lower Mon system, but progress has been slow. Federal budget
cuts have forced the construction timetable to slip. The project
should have been finished this year, or soon thereafter. Now it
won’t be done until 2020 at the earliest.
Under the Corps’ “2 for 3” $750 million replacement project,
the aging dam at Elizabeth would be removed. Lock 3 would also
be removed, which will eliminate a bottleneck in which towboats
must break up their tows — but only after the 70-year-old,
undersized Lock 4, 18 miles away at Charleroi, is replaced with
larger and more modern facilities.
One key aspect of the project has been completed:
construction of a new dam at Lock 2. The new $107 million gated
Braddock Dam was floated into place last year.
But the towing industry isn’t celebrating. They won’t enjoy
the full benefits of the new dam until the entire project is
completed. The Corps estimates that $870 million in benefits
have already been lost to the navigation industry because of
delays in completing the project. It will cost the industry an
additional $10 million a year over what they have already paid
for the delays, said William Karaffa, acting project manager for
the Lower Mon.
The costs of the delays must be figured into the pricing of
towing services, according to Peter Stephaich, chairman and CEO
of Campbell Transportation Co. Inc. in Charleroi.
But what worries towing companies, he said, is the difficulty
of predicting the unknown. “We’re most concerned about how
[closures or slowdowns due to] unexpected, unscheduled
maintenance will affect our operations,” he said. “The more we
postpone [the project], the higher price we’ll have to pay for
it.”
The Corps says it needs between $60 million and $80 million a
year to keep the project on an efficient schedule. But federal
appropriations have been much less, dropping from $60 million to
$37 million in fiscal 2004. The 2005 budget request contains
only $30 million, which would put the project on a “constrained”
schedule, according to the Corps.
The Corps estimates that $60 million will have to be invested
in the near future for lock repairs just to keep them
operational until the entire project is finished. |
TIME BOMB
“This valuable system is suffering from serious neglect,” the
Inland Waterways Users Board said in its 2004 report to Congress and
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “The nation is not making the
necessary investments in the modernization of the system. We have
been deferring maintenance for so many years that we are now
experiencing serious structural failures.”
A recent report card from the American Society of Civil Engineers
on maintenance of U.S. infrastructure gave the U.S. navigable
waterways system a grade of D+.
“Demands on the waterways system are expected to double by 2020,
while the current system can barely accommodate current traffic
levels,” the report said.
Some locks are in good shape, mostly along the Lower Mississippi
and Ohio rivers. But a review of Corps documents and photos reveals
a myriad of structural problems across the system.
Some locks haven’t been painted in 25-30 years, contributing to
corrosion of the steel; concrete is crumbling at Lower Monongahela
River locks in Pennsylvania; there are cracks in the downstream
middle wall leaf at the Greenup Lock on the Ohio River; there are
serious leaks at the miter gates at Upper Miss Lock 19; and there’s
concrete deterioration at the Chicamauga Lock on the Tennessee River
that could result in lock failure.
“We have a ticking time bomb here,” said Barry Palmer, president
of the Waterways Council, an Arlington, Va.-based coalition of
waterway users. “There’s increasing concern about a potential for
failure of the system. It’s pretty scary.”
Even top brass at the Corps readily admit that they have been
given the impossible job of operating an antiquated and outmoded
system and that the future is bleak without more funding to get
renovations on a steady track. To respond to these challenges, the
Corps is reorganizing, rethinking its funding priorities, and
re-evaluating the way it works with the navigation industry and the
way it reviews and finances projects.
Here are some highlights of the inland system and the challenges
faced by the Corps to keep it operational:
• There are 25,000 miles of waterways and 275 lock chambers at
230 locations that move 2.4 billion tons of cargo a year. Forty-one
of these locks are more than 100 years old; 142 are over 50 years
old.
• There are 12 construction projects currently underway (eight
new or replacement locks, four major rehabs). Total cost is $5
billion. “But all of these projects will require much more robust
funding in the future if they are to stay on the current
construction schedules,” according to the Corps.
• Funding shortfalls have caused delays of at least six years at
Olmstead Locks and Dam, five at McAlpine, and nine at the Lower
Monongahela.
• The maintenance backlog is expected to hit $623 million this
year, resulting in further wear and tear on lock chambers and
channels that are in dire need of repair.
• The Inland Waterways Trust Fund, which is financed by a diesel
tax paid by barge operators, is supposed to be used for waterway
improvements. Instead a surplus of nearly $400 million sits unused
because Congress has failed to appropriate its share in a 50-50
cost-sharing arrangement.
• Foreign trade volume, especially containerized freight, is
expected to more than double by 2020, and inland waterway traffic
may increase by a third.
Consequences of maintaining the status quo are many.
“Agricultural exports will be in peril,” according to the users
board report. “Power costs will drastically increase, manufacturing
costs for consumer durables and non-durables using chemicals and
petrochemicals will increase dramatically, and the environment will
suffer increased pollutants, noise and congestion” as river traffic
moves to highway and rail.
In addition, the economies of hundreds of river towns would be in
jeopardy, as would the U.S. barge industry. America’s ability to
compete against countries that continue to modernize and improve
their river navigation systems would also suffer.
Federal investment in water resources infrastructure has
decreased 50 percent over the past 30 years and now stands at the
same level it was around 1960, according to the National Waterways
Conference. Today’s annual investment of $4 billion must keep a $150
billion system working, compared to an infrastructure that was
valued at about $100 billion in 1980.
“This system delivers 16 percent of all intercity freight that
moves in the United States but accounts for only one-sixth of the
spending on transportation,” said John Doyle, vice president of the
Waterways Council.
As a result, domestic water transportation capacity isn’t fully
utilized and projects are often derailed or delayed by lack of
federal funds and, in some cases, by environmental opposition or
regulation. New projects aren’t getting authorized, and those
authorized aren’t getting built. There’s a backlog of maintenance,
which leads to unscheduled shutdowns for emergency repairs. And
there’s congestion and queuing at key points of the system,
especially during the grain harvest season, as tows must break up
and reassemble in order to make it through 600-foot lock chambers.
This costs time and money.
MORE LOCK CLOSURES
Perhaps one of the most troubling — and becoming all too frequent
— developments for the navigation industry has been the unscheduled
closure of locks and dams for emergency repairs. In 2002, a gate
failure that closed the John Day lock along the Columbia River in
Oregon took months to repair, causing major shipping delays.
Emergency repairs often close Upper Mississippi locks, where over
the past 12 years there has been one full year of downtime due to
repairs.
Recently, the Corps announced that urgent repairs are needed at
the existing lock chamber at the McAlpine Locks and Dam on the Ohio
River. This will force an emergency closure for two weeks in August
to repair cracks that were found in one of the lock gates. The Corps
is currently building a second 1,200-foot chamber at McAlpine.
One of the most costly closures occurred last year at Greenup
Locks and Dam near Portsmouth, Ohio. In September, a scheduled
three-week closure of the main lock chamber for gate inspection and
repair was extended to eight weeks because of the extensive damage
found.
Tows had to use the smaller auxiliary chamber. This produced an
average tow delay of 38 hours, which cost the barge industry an
estimated $14 million, according to the Corps. In addition, some
power plants were caught without an adequate coal stockpile just as
the heating season began. Some coal had to shift to rail or truck on
short notice, which meant paying premium rates.
MEMCO Barge Line’s river operations lost $1.3 million due to the
closure, which translated into 135 boat days and 2,025 barge days
lost. “We had four boats sit at Greenup for eight weeks, holding
spaces in line,” said Mark Knoy, president of Chesterfield,
Mo.-based MEMCO.
“These are symptomatic of what’s happening throughout the
waterway system,” explained Robert F. Vining, chief, programs
management at the Corps. “This represents a long-term erosion in the
navigation capacity of our system. We simply can’t handle the same
volume of traffic as periods of closure increase in duration.”
Reasons for this predicament are many. Part of the blame lies
with the navigation industry itself: Until now, it hasn’t done a
good enough job telling its story to lawmakers in Congress and to
budget crunchers in the administration. Other factors have been
beyond the industry’s control. Changes in Congress have placed many
more lawmakers who are unfamiliar with the waterways in key
decision-making positions, and a rise in the influence of the
environmental movement has effectively stalled projects along the
Upper Mississippi and the Missouri rivers.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECT
The strength of the environmental movement can’t be ignored, and
it’s a development that has some in the industry scratching their
heads: How can waterborne navigation be at odds with the environment
when it is one of the most environmentally friendly modes of
transportation? A coalition of environmental and taxpayer groups has
been actively criticizing the Corps, urging Congress to reform the
agency, cancel projects and cut or redirect its funds.
Environmentalists worry that increasing demands and maintenance
at ports and waterways could damage fragile estuaries, bays and
fisheries. Environmental groups also question the need for expensive
waterways projects when traffic levels on the inland navigation
system have remained stagnant or even decreased.
“The major challenge facing the inland waterway system is in
decisions regarding what river segments should be maintained for
commercial navigation — particularly given the maintenance backlog
for important parts of the system and the distressed environmental
condition of many of the waterways,” environmentalists wrote in
“Crossroads,” a report released in March that was critical of the
Corps.
The National Wildlife Federation and Taxpayers for Common Sense
charged in the report that the Corps wastes billions of dollars on
water projects that harm the environment. They claim that the Corps
consistently “cooks the books with bad economics, low-balls the
environmental damage its projects will cause, relies on outdated
approaches, lacks direction in its work and perpetuates wasteful
federal subsidies.”
Environmentalists have been especially critical of improvements
to the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers. They charge that the
Corps has exaggerated barge traffic estimates and failed to
adequately explore alternatives to a $2.9 billion lock expansion.
Despite these criticisms, senators from Illinois, Missouri and Iowa
introduced legislation in late May to begin preliminary engineering
and design for seven new, 1,200-foot locks, the first phase of a
long-term plan for expanding the Upper Miss and Illinois.
The health of the inland river navigation system is
interdependent on the health of every lock and dam. A major failure
on the Upper Miss would be felt as far away as New Orleans.
“We’re worried that things will get worse as traffic grows and
the system matures,” said Joseph Pyne, president and CEO of Kirby
Corp., Houston, the nation’s largest operator of inland tank barges
and towboats. “A catastrophic event in locks up river will shut
those bodies of water down and would devastate the economy, as the
system is all interconnected.”
But finding the money to address all the expensive needs of the
inland waterways system is a real problem.
“Congressmen keep telling us that there is just no money,” said
Knoy of MEMCO, who spends time each month in Washington lobbying
lawmakers for more funds. “Maybe what we need is a real crisis —
like a blackout when a utility runs out of coal because it couldn’t
get its supply from the river. That might get their attention in
Washington.”
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Chattanooga Times Free Press
April 28, 2004
Army official backs new lock
Congressmen vow more money for Chickamauga replacement
By Dave Flessner, Staff Writer
A top official of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers said Tuesday the crumbling Chickamauga Lock needs to be
replaced.
But after touring the 64-year lock in Chattanooga, Army Assistant
Secretary John Paul Woodley Jr. said the Corps of Engineers and Bush
administration budget officials still are studying how to pay the
estimated $315 million cost of the replacement lock.
The president's budget for fiscal 2005 does not recommend
additional funding for the Chickamauga lock despite its deterioration
from "concrete growth" in the lock chambers.
"This facility is a very important part of the system that we
maintain on the Tennessee (River) and across the nation," Mr. Woodley
said.
Mr. Woodley said, "There has not been any step backward" in the
construction of a new lock. But he said the president's wartime budget
"is very frugal" for civil engineering projects by the Corps.
Two East Tennessee members of Congress with oversight of the Army
Corps of Engineers vowed Tuesday to gain additional funding for a new
Chickamauga lock. U.S. Reps. John Duncan Jr., R-Tenn., and Zach Wamp,
R-Tenn., pledged to work to get the Corps another $13.5 million in
fiscal 2005 to continue the design and start construction work on a
new lock.
"The president's budget doesn't fund the government," said Rep.
Wamp, a member of the House appropriations committee. "The Congress
funds the government. We're disappointed that the president's budget
didn't fund the request for additional funding for his lock, but that
is not the final word."
Engineers for the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the lock,
and the Army Corps, which operates the lock, estimate that by 2010
problems in the existing lock could force its closure. Since it opened
in 1940, the Chickamauga Lock chamber has shifted four inches because
of "concrete growth" problems caused by the mixture of river water and
the rock aggregate used to make the cement walls, Mr. Woodley said.
The lock will temporarily shut down in July for three weeks of
repairs. If it continues to deteriorate and is not replaced, it could
be forced to shut down permanently within six years. That would cut
off 318 miles of navigable river upstream of Chattanooga.
Rep. Duncan, the chairman of the House Water Resources and
Environment subcommittee, pledged to gain funding for the larger
replacement lock by 2010. "While this is potentially one of the
biggest construction projects ever for Chattanooga, it's probably more
important for my district and others upstream," the Knoxville
Republican said. "If even half of the traffic that is handled by this
lock had to be put on the interstate highway, it would add 45,000
tractor trailer trucks to the highways of East Tennessee and even more
as the economy expands as we hope it will."
With additional funding, Corps civil engineer Wayne Huddleston said
preliminary construction work to reroute Lake Resort Drive near the
lock could begin within the year.
E-mail Dave Flessner at
dflessner@timesfreepress.com
Lock at a glance Existing lock was built in
1940 and is 60 feet by 360 feet. The lock suffers from "concrete
growth" caused by the mixture of rock and river water. The proposed
replacement lock would be 110 feet by 600 feet and cost an estimated
$315 million to build.
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Chattanooga Times Free Press
April 28, 2004
Repair
schedule for Chickamauga Lock rests on funding
By Bill Poovey, Associated Press
CHATTANOOGA - The chief of the Corps of
Engineers toured a cracking lock on the Tennessee River with two
Republican congressmen disappointed that President Bush did not
request 2005 budget money toward a replacement.
After the private tour, John Paul Woodley Jr., the assistant
secretary of the Army in charge of the corps, agreed the 67-year-old
Chickamauga Lock needs replacing. But he declined to say when he would
recommend funding for it.
While design work started in 2004 on the projected $315 million
replacement, the construction schedule depends on funding.
Woodley said the lock - 60 feet wide and 360 feet long - can be
maintained to operate at least through 2010 and beyond before it is
replaced with a 110-foot by 600-foot structure.
Speaking to reporters with U.S. Reps. John Duncan Jr. of Knoxville
and Zach Wamp of Chattanooga, Woodley said the tour showed the need
for completing an analysis at the "earliest possible time" to support
a funding recommendation.
The lock, which opened 13 miles upstream from Chattanooga in 1937
and accommodates boat traffic for 181 miles upstream to Knoxville, is
deteriorating because of "concrete growth" from calcium and lime in
rocks that were used. Studies show the lock could become inoperable as
soon as 2010.
"There's a lot of cracks and a lot of water comes through," said
Eugene Hixon, a corps mechanic. "It has grown 8 inches longer."
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Wamp pushed to
get $7.8 million for the aging lock in a spending bill this year.
While Woodley said it is too late for him to seek any change in the
Bush administration's pending $4.2 trillion budget request, Wamp
predicted that he, Duncan and Frist would be able to secure funding
soon.
Woodley said the prospect of him recommending funds for a
replacement in 2006 was "still under review."
Duncan said the Chickamauga Lock "directly affects" 36
congressional districts.
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Chattanoogan
April 28, 2004
Wamp Says Army Official Sees Need For
Lock Work
Rep. Zach Wamp said a tour of the deteriorating Chickamauga Lock by
U.S. Army Assistant Secretary John Paul Woodley on Tuesday caused him
to see the need for federal funding for the expensive project.
Rep. Wamp said Asst. Sec. Woodley said he would do all in his power to
see that the project is in the President's budget for next year.
It was not in the Bush budget this year, but Rep. Wamp said Congress
is committed anyway to including $13.5 million of first-year funding
for the lock work.
He said it is important next year that $25 million for the project be
part of the Bush budget. He said it is "much easier" if it is in the
administration recommendation.
Rep. Wamp and Rep. John Duncan led the Army official on a tour of the
lock.
It was the first time the Army official had seen the lock, Rep. Wamp
said.
Officials say not fixing the lock would put a bottleneck on important
river transportation.
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Chattanooga Times Free Press
February 3, 2004
Chickamauga Lock money cut from president's plans
By Andy Sher Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - Plans for a replacement lock for Chickamauga Dam have been left
high and dry under President Bush's proposed 2005 federal budget, according to a
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers official.
"The benefit-to-cost ratio on Chickamauga Lock does not rise to the projected
level to fit within the budget," said Rob Vining, chief of programs management
for the Corps of Engineers' Directorate of Civil Works.
The president's $2.4 trillion spending plan calls for a 13 percent budget cut
for the Corps of Engineers. The agency was expected to fund a new 110-foot by
600-foot replacement for the current lock at Chattanooga, which has a problem
with deteriorating concrete.
U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, RTe nn., said it may take about $13 million to keep the
projected $300 million project going next year. About half that money would be
appropriated by the federal government, and another half would come from an
inland waterways trust fund, he said.
"We can do it without it being in there (the president's proposed budget ), but
it will be harder," said Rep. Wamp, a member of the House Appropriations Energy
and Water Subcommittee that oversees funding on water projects.
"This is going to be heavy lifting for each and every year for seven years," he
said.
Rep. Wamp said he is depending on U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, RTenn.,
and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., to help make the project happen.
Spokesmen for Sens. Frist and Alexander promised to join Rep. Wamp in pushing
for the lock funding.
"Clearly this is something we will fight for," Frist spokesman Nick Smith said.
Earlier Monday, Corps of Engineers officials defended the budget cuts, citing
national defense issues and cost-benefit analyses.
"This is a frugal budget that reflects the priorities of a nation at war," said
John Paul Woodley Jr., assistant secretary of the Army for civil works.
While the Chickamauga Lock project was cut, many programs in Tennessee benefit
under the proposed budget, according to the White House.
The president's budget increases Title I funding for poorer students under the
No Child Left Behind Act, according to the White House. The budget would provide
Tennessee more than $212 million for Title I, a 7.1 percent increase over
current funding.
Spending on special education would increase by 10 percent to more than $224
million in Tennessee, according to the White House. Administration officials
also said the budget would provide $1.7 billion for Te nnessee veterans, an 8
percent increase, and $183 million more for TennCare.
But U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr., D-Tenn., accused the president of not leveling
with the public over the continued costs of defense and homeland security
spending.
"They should have the courage to ask for it right now," he said. Rep. Ford said
administration officials conceded they may come back for as much as $50 billion
in additional funding.
Sen. Alexander said what he likes about the Bush budget is that it "holds the
line" on spending and aims to reduce the federal deficit by half over the next
five years.
"It puts the priorities where they ought to be, on defense and better schools at
home," he said.
Meanwhile, the Bush administration continues to press the Tennessee Valley
Authority to reduce its $25 billion debt. In the budget document, the
administration calls on TVA to reduce its debt by another $325 million in 2005
and "increasing thereafter," prompting disagreement from agency officials over
whether it will achieve that goal.
TVA Director William Baxter said he thinks the White House's Office of
Management and Budget acted in "good faith" and "plugged in this $325 million."
But he said the federal utility has not finalized its longterm business plan.
Mr. Baxter said TVA is planning on a $65 million debt reduction in 2005 after
paying down its bonded debt by $1.5 billion in the 2004 budget year with money
the agency received from advance electricity purchases by Memphis Gas Light and
Water. He said he is reasonably sure the $65 million debt reduction figure will
grow.
"We don't know if that ($325 million) is the target we'll adopt," Mr. Baxter
said. "As with all of our discussions, it will be taken constructively, and
we'll go from there."
Also, the administration's energy budget would provide $113.6 million to
continue building the Spallation Neutron Source in Oak Ridge, according to The
Associated Press. And environmental cleanup costs at Oak Ridge are expected to
reach $215 million this year, up from an estimated $163 million this year.
Staff writer Mike Pare contributed to this story.
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Chattanooga Times Free Press
February 13, 2003
A boost to water commerce
Congress expected to approve funds for new Chickamauga lock
By Andy Sher Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - Tennessee congressmen declared victory Wednesday in their
efforts to replace the crumbling lock at the Chickamauga Dam in Chattanooga.
Authorization for the 110-foot by 600-foot lock was included Wednesday in a $396
billion congressional spending agreement for fiscal year 2003, said U.S. Rep.
Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.
Rep. Wamp termed as "absolutely fantastic" the inclusion of the Chickamauga lock
in the bill.
The bill authorizes $300 million over seven years to build the new lock, Rep.
Wamp said. A House and Senate vote on the omnibus funding bill is scheduled for
either today or Friday.
The existing lock is plagued by "concrete growth," a chemical reaction of river
water and the type of concrete used in the lock’s construction, TVA and Army
Corps of Engineers studies show. The growth causes distortions in the concrete
that have to be fixed repeatedly.
"Our congressional delegation pulled together to do what we need to do for the
entire region, which is to guarantee the Tennessee River stays open to
commerce," Rep. Wamp said. "When President Bush signs this bill, the Army Corps
of Engineers will be directed to build this new lock with one half of the cost
coming from Congress and the other half coming from the Inland Waterway Trust
Fund."
The trust fund is based on a barge diesel fuel tax and provides 50 percent of
the cost for major capital improvements.
Sen. Frist in a statement called inclusion of the lock a "significant
breakthrough."
"Together with Congressmen (John) Duncan and Wamp, we’ve been working hard for
several years to secure this funding," Sen. Frist said. "The new lock will be
yet another milestone in the economic future of Chattanooga."
Rep. Duncan, R-Tenn., said the new lock "is very important to businesses and
industries above Chattanooga."
Rep. Duncan’s district includes Knox and McMinn counties.
Rep. Wamp for several years worked to secure authorization to replace the
Tennessee River lock, which opened in 1940 and is owned by the Tennessee Valley
Authority.
As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Wamp obtained at least
$12 to $15 million in recent years to maintain the lock.
Studies indicate the lock could be rendered inoperable by 2010. More than 318
miles of Tennessee River north of Chattanooga would be shut off for businesses
that rely on the river transport.
TVA spokesman John Moulton said the federal utility has supported the lock
replacement.
"We said early on it’s like other locks in the country. It should be funded
through the Corps or through whatever congressional appropriations that would
occur," Mr. Moulton said.
Jan Jones, executive director of the Tennessee River Association, which
represents users, said the uncertain nature of the lock’s future has resulted in
some existing industries not expanding between Chattanooga and Knoxville. She
said some industrial prospects have been "reluctant" to locate on the river. "If
this gets approved and is included in the omnibus bill, of course we would be
delighted," Ms. Jones said.
Rep. Wamp said when President Bush signs the legislation into law, the Army
Corps of Engineers will "begin the process of establishing the timeline for
design engineering and construction over seven years to get this project going
and then finished.
"There’ll be public meetings and a host of activities the Corps will be engaged
in," Rep. Wamp said.
The Army Corps recommended replacing the existing 60-foot by 360-foot lock in
late 2001, following a two-year study. But the Corps recommended only a 75-foot
by 400-foot replacement.
The study said that, while a case could be made for the larger lock, the Corps
was bound by rules to recommend the cheapest lock. The 110-foot by 600-foot lock
costs about $26 million more.
Area congressmen pushed for the larger lock, arguing that it could handle more
barges and accommodate future growth.
Reps. Wamp and Duncan planned to include authorization for the larger lock in a
major water project bill last year. But several senators stopped the bill over
efforts to reform the Army Corps of Engineers, Rep. Duncan said.
There were concerns the bill could be stalled this year. Those concerns prompted
Rep. Wamp to push for authorizing the lock’s replacement in the 2003 omnibus
spending bill.
"This was years in the making, and I just really worked to make sure that it got
into this omnibus bill," Rep. Wamp said. "Time was of the essence, and we didn’t
want to get caught up in this dispute over the Corps of Engineers."
Rep. Wamp, who got the measure included on the House side, said, "We clearly had
Senator Frist’s assistance on the Senate side to sign off on the insertion."
E-mail Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com
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Knoxville News Sentinel
February 13, 2003
New lock sails closer to reality
Congress will approve funding, lawmakers say
By RICHARD POWELSON, powelsonr@shns.com
WASHINGTON - Three key Tennessee lawmakers said Wednesday they have won
agreement in Congress for approval of a new, larger federally funded lock that
will handle river commerce much more quickly between Knoxville and Chattanooga
and beyond.
Without completion by 2010 of a new lock costing nearly $300 million, U.S.
Rep. Zach Wamp of Chattanooga had warned, the old decaying Chickamauga Lock on
the Tennessee River by Chattanooga would be closed, prompting "thousands more"
tractor-trailer truck shipments onto East Tennessee highways.
Wamp, fellow Republican Rep. John J. Duncan Jr. of Knoxville and Sen. Bill
Frist, R-Tenn., worked together with their contacts to add the lock approval
section to a very large annual appropriations bill for various departments and
agencies that is getting final approval this week. Frist is Senate majority
leader, Duncan is chairman of the water resources subcommittee, and Wamp is a
member of the Appropriations Committee that funds all federal projects.
Their provision would require the Army Corps of Engineers and Congress to
complete work and funding for the new lock within seven years.
Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe had pushed the new lock as crucial for the city's
river commerce.
"This is good news," Ashe said. "It shows how effective Zach Wamp, Bill Frist
and Jim Duncan are for East Tennessee. Frist being majority leader is already
paying off for us."
Wamp had made the new lock his top priority for several years.
"Replacing the Chickamauga Lock is critical to the future of East Tennessee,"
Wamp said. "The current lock is plagued (by chronic concrete maladies) and must
be replaced. If it is not replaced, the lock would be shut down in 2010 and many
goods would have to be shipped by alternative means," adding many truck
shipments to the highways.
Frist said he also had made the new lock a top priority for East Tennessee.
"Construction of the new lock will ensure that commerce can flow efficiently
along the Tennessee River."
Duncan said the lock also "is very important to businesses and industries
above Chattanooga. The replacement of the lock, something that I have always
felt is critical, will be extremely beneficial to the Second District" that
includes Knox County.
The current lock, 60 feet wide and 360 feet long, can handle only one barge
per hour. A boat often will push 15 barges at a time, a Corps of Engineers
official said.
The new lock, 110 feet wide by 600 feet long, could admit up to nine barges
per hour.
Wayne Huddleston, the Corps of Engineers director overseeing planning for the
new lock, said the faster handling of barges will save shippers a lot of time
and money.
Richard Powelson may be reached at 202-408-272.
Copyright 2003, KnoxNews. All Rights Reserved.
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Chattanooga Times Free Press
August 29, 2001
Crumbling lock chamber threatens upstream river traffic by 2010
By Dave Flessner
Business Editor
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers appears ready to recommend
that the crumbling Chickamauga Lock be replaced with a new and bigger passageway
within the next decade, officials said Tuesday.
But the $300 million plan to build a replacement lock at the
Chickamauga Dam may have to ply some uncharted political waters.
"We're going to have to fight real hard to get this $300
million and to keep the Tennessee River open," U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp,
R-Chattanooga, said Tuesday during a forum at the lock. "This is my top
legislative priority, and we're making great progress. But when it is all said
and done we're going to have to finesse the questions over funding and find the
money."
The barge industry and the Tennessee Valley Authority may be
among those asked to help pay for the new Chickamauga Lock. Rep. Wamp, who this
year joined the congressional subcommittee that controls Corps of Engineers
funding, said he expects to get the replacement lock in a major water
authorization bill next year and to secure at least half of the funding from
Congress needed for the new lock.
But getting the rest of the money for a comparatively small
lock like Chickamauga could be difficult. New locks usually require the support
of the barge industry, which funds a $400 million trust fund from the fuel taxes
paid by river barges. Since the Inland Waterways Users Board began allocating
money from the trust fund in 1986, 50 percent of the expense of all major Corps
of Engineers lock projects has been paid from the trust fund. Federal funds
allocated by Congress have paid the other half.
The Inland Waterways Users Board never has funded a lock that
handled such minimal cargo amounts as that shipped through the Chickamauga Lock,
however. Among more than 52 million tons of shipments along the Tennessee River
each year, less than 2.5 million tons of cargo are shipped through Chickamauga
Lock.
But while a Chickamauga Lock replacement would be the smallest
lock built yet with money from the inland waterways trust fund, the existing
structure also would be the biggest inland lock ever closed in the United States
if it is not repaired.
"This lock is critical to keeping 318 miles of navigation
upstream of Chattanooga, but we've still got to make a stronger case in
Washington about how this is a national benefit," said Jan Jones, executive
director of the Tennessee River Valley Association, a trade group of river users
based in Decatur, Ala.
TVA and Corps of Engineers experts estimate that problems with
"concrete growth" in chamber walls of the existing 61-year-old lock will force
its permanent closure by 2010. Already, the Corps of Engineers is spending $20
million to shore up the life of the lock until a replacement lock may be built.
The Corps of Engineers will release its recommendations on a
replacement lock this fall and deliver a final "Chief's Report" to Congress by
next May in time for the lock project to be included in the next Water Resources
Development Act. Wayne Huddleston, project manager for the Corps of Engineers,
said studies indicate that with a bigger lock at least 6.5 million tons of cargo
would move through the Chickamauga Lock. The Corps of Engineers report expected
in October likely will indicate that the benefits of a new lock at Chickamauga
Dam will exceed its costs.
"We've got major industries in our county alone like Bowater
and Olin Chemical which depend upon being able to use the Chickamauga Lock,"
Cleveland Mayor Tom Rowland said. "We simply can't allow this lock to close and
to shut off our river."
In its annual report to Congress this summer, the Inland
Waterways Users Board said it supports additional study on the Chickamauga Lock.
But because the lock was originally under control of TVA, the board has not yet
put the Chickamauga Lock on any of its priority lists.
As a result, TVA may be asked to again help shore up the
Chickamauga Lock it erected in the 1930s.
TVA received congressional appropriations to build Chickamauga
and its other dams along the Tennessee River in the first half of the 1900s and
continued to receive annual funding for navigation until 1997. Since then, TVA
has had to pay for its navigation programs from its electricity sales and, as a
result, has turned over the lock replacement responsibility to the Corps of
Engineers.
"I would think that the simple solution, even though it won't
be easy, will be to get some combination of support from TVA, some support from
the Inland Waterways Trust Fund and certainly a large portion of appropriated
funds," Rep. Wamp said.
Rep. Wamp said he and Rep. Jimmy Duncan, R-Tenn, who is
chairman of the subcommittee on water resources and development, "will work
every option on the funding formula once we get this project authorized next
year."
TVA Chairman Glenn McCullough pledged his support Tuesday for
Rep. Wamp's efforts to build a new lock at the Chickamauga Dam. But he said it
is too early to talk about any TVA financial support for paying for a new lock.
"TVA is very supportive of this project, which we recognize is
critical to the future of the Valley," Mr. McCullough said.
E-mail Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com
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