Lock Repairs 2016

Project Restarts 2016

Congressional Tour 2012

Congressional Visit 2011

Tornado Damage 2010

Heavy Cargo

Project Updates

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The Chickamauga Lock Replacement project's fully funded total project cost estimate is $757.7 million assuming efficient annual funding and a 2024 completion date.  The project received $76.5 million in fiscal year 2018, which was used to exercise four Options on the Lock Chamber construction contract (total contract value including all 13 options is $240 million) that was originally awarded in September 2017.  The Lock Chamber base contract includes mobilization and construction of the onsite concrete batch plant; the four recently exercised options include mobilization of the concrete delivery system, final rock excavation/surface preparation, and the beginning of concrete placements for the new navigation lock structure.  The remaining Lock Chamber contract options will be exercised in future fiscal years as additional funds become available.  The Lock Chamber contract work to be performed inside the cofferdam area will commence upon the completion of the other ongoing construction contract, Lock Excavation.  The Lock Excavation contract scope primarily includes the excavation and removal of approximately 100,000 cubic yards of rock; the contract was awarded in September 2016 and is currently scheduled to be completed in November 2018.

Construction on the Chickamauga Lock Replacement project restarted in September 2015 with the award of the Cofferdam Stabilization contract, which consisted of placing grout along the perimeter of the existing cofferdam cells to reduce the potential for water seepage entering the work area during future lock contracts; this contract was completed in July 2016.  The next contract, Lock Excavation, will primarily consist of removing rock and preparing the site for future concrete placements and is scheduled to be awarded in September 2016. The Lock Excavation contract will be a two-year-long contract.  The next contract after Lock Excavation will be construction of the new lock chamber.

Construction on the Chickamauga Lock Replacement project has been temporarily suspended.  The most recent construction activity on the project includes completion of the cofferdam and off-site fabrication of the miter gates, culvert valves, culvert bulkheads and approach wall beams, all completed in 2013.  The cofferdam, which can be seen from adjacent roadways as drivers pass by, will be used to provide a "dry" area for construction of the new lock walls and chamber.  The miter gates, culvert valves and culvert bulkheads will be stored at Muscle Shoals, Ala., and the approach wall beams will be stored at Watts Bar Dam until needed to complete construction of the lock.  The project is not in the president's fiscal year 2015 budget, and will remain in a temporary suspended status until additional funding becomes available to continue construction.
Current Chickamauga Lock construction includes completion of the cofferdam, and off-site fabrication of the miter gates, culvert valves, culvert bulkheads and approach wall beams.  The cofferdam is substantially complete and the contract will be closed out soon.  The cofferdam, which can be seen from adjacent roadways as drivers pass by, will be used to provide a "dry" area for construction of the new lock walls and chamber.  The miter gates, culvert valves and culvert bulkheads are substantially complete and that contract will also be closed out soon.  These items will be stored at Muscle Shoals until needed to complete construction of the lock.  The approach wall beams will be completed in May 2013, and will be stored at Watts Bar until needed to complete construction of the lock.  At that time, this contract will also be closed out, finishing the work performed on the new lock using ARRA funds.  The project is not in the FY13 Budget, and without additional funding, no further construction will take place.  The project will be placed in a mothball status until funding becomes available to continue construction.

News

Fleischmann, DesJarlais see progress during tour to Chickamauga Replacement Lock

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (April 10, 2018) – Congressmen Chuck Fleischmann, Tennessee 3rd District, and Scott DesJarlais, Tennessee 4th District met with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Tennessee Valley Authority representatives, toured the existing and new lock project and addressed the media about funding and progress Monday morning April 9,  2018.

 

Col. Paul Kremer (Right), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Great Lakes and Ohio River Division acting commander, gets an update on the Chickamauga Lock Replacement Project from Adam Walker, project manager with the Nashville District, during a visit Dec. 5, 2017 to the construction site at Tennessee River mile 471 in Chattanooga, Tenn. (Photo by Lee Roberts)Kremer builds strong understanding of Nashville District construction projects

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Dec. 8, 2017) – The acting commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Great Lakes and Ohio River Division received briefings and updates at Nashville District construction sites this week to build a strong understanding of the projects.

 

Adam Walker (Right), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District project manager for the Chickamauga Lock Replacement Project, briefs Douglas Lamont, senior official performing duties of secretary of the Army for Civil Works, on the status of the work Feb. 28, 2017 in Chattanooga, Tenn. Lamont seeks greater understanding of aging infrastructure at Chickamauga Lock

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Feb. 28, 2017) – To gain a better perspective of the nation’s aging infrastructure on America’s waterways the senior official performing duties of secretary of the Army for Civil Works toured Chickamauga Lock today to realize the challenges of keeping a deteriorated lock open while racing against time to construct a replacement lock.

 

Greg Cox (Left), chief of maintenance for the Corps of Engineers maintenance team at Chickamauga Lock in Chattanooga, Tenn., provides an update about the ongoing inspection and repairs at the dewatered lock to Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, Tennessee District 3.Congressman gets close look at dewatered Chickamauga Lock

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Aug. 8, 2016) – The congressman serving Tennessee District 3 who serves on the House Committee on Appropriations and the Energy and Water Subcommittee donned a pair of rubber boots Aug. 3 to get a close look at the dewatered Chickamauga Lock on the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Maintenance team repairs dewatered Chickamauga Lock

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (July 20, 2016) – Chickamauga Lock is empty and closed to navigation while maintenance crews inspect and make repairs to the miter gates, valves, bushings and other components normally submerged under more than 11 million gallons of water.

 

Lt. Gen. Todd T. Semonite (Second from Left), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers commander, receives a briefing at the Chickamauga Lock Replacement Project in Chattanooga, Tenn.Semonite visits high visibility construction projects, says it’s time to ‘finish strong’

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (June 7, 2016) – In only his third week on the job, the nation’s chief of engineers visited three high visibility construction projects today to meet employees and garner the very latest updates from project managers and team members.

 

Lt. Col. Stephen Murphy, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District commander, briefs Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, Tennessee District 3, while overlooking the coffer dam where construction of a new lock has resumed during a visit to the project in Chattanooga, Tenn., April 25, 2016.Chickamauga Lock Replacement Project work restarts

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (April 25, 2016) – The Chickamauga Lock Replacement Project restarted today with official fanfare as a $3.1 million cofferdam stabilization project got underway. 

 

 

Chickamauga Lock crane in operation

Corps assessment reopens Chickamauga Lock at the end of the week

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Oct. 31, 2014) – Work crews assessed damage at Chickamauga Lock and plan to reopen Chickamauga Lock to all navigation traffic next week.

 

 

The Pinta, a larger version of the archetypal caravel that Columbus used on his voyages to the new world and offers walk-aboard tours, transits Chickamauga Lock Oct. 20, 2013 after a 10-day visit to Chattanooga, Tenn. Columbus’ replica ships Nina, Pinta transit aging Chickamauga Lock

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Oct. 22, 2013) -- Out of the darkness on Sunday evening, Oct. 20, 2013, what appeared to be two 500-plus year-old vessels quietly and slowly approached the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District’s Chickamauga Lock.

 

Pictured at left is the experimental composite wrap and primer to be applied underwater to a deteriorated discharge port at the 73-year-old Chickamauga Lock in Chattanooga, Tenn., with the conventional steel wrap displayed at right.Nashville District works with partners on engineering solutions at Chickamauga Lock

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Aug. 29, 2013) -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District is collaborating with industry, West Virginia University, Engineering Research and Development Center and Tennessee Valley Authority to find a better solution to unacceptable deterioration around Chickamauga Lock’s discharge ports that cannot be dewatered.

 

Officials from China’s Three Gorges Corporation and Project Construction Committee pose for a photograph after briefings on navigation lock construction, operations, maintenance and agency partnerships by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District personnel and a tour of Chickamauga Lock June 7, 2013.Officials from China’s Three Gorges Corporation visit Chickamauga Lock

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (June 7, 2013) — A group of officials from China’s Three Gorges Corporation and Project Construction Committee were briefed on navigation lock construction, operations, maintenance and agency partnerships by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District personnel at Chickamauga Lock June 7, 2013.

 

Congressional staff members stand below a Chickamauga Lock sign during their April 3, 2013 visit to the deteriorating, 73-year-old, TVA-owned and Corps-operated and maintained Chattanooga facility. Congressional staff members visit deteriorating Chickamauga Lock

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (April 3, 2013) – Nine Congressional staff members from the Tennessee Valley visited the Chickamauga Lock Construction project today to receive a briefing and tour as part of their TVA-sponsored orientation to Tennessee River operations.

 

Mike Arles, quality assurance representative on the Chickamauga Lock Replacement Project checks one of the pre-cast concrete sections of an approach wall beam Jan. 31, 2013 at Watts Bar Dam, Decatur, Tenn. 300-ton Chickamauga Lock approach wall beams being assembled at Watts Bar

SPRING CITY, Tenn., (Jan. 31, 2013) – Precast concrete sections for 42 lock approach wall beams destined for the Chickamauga Lock Replacement Project were recently delivered by barge to Watts Bar where they will be assembled.

 

Congressman Chuck Fleischmann (Left), representative of the 3rd District of Tennessee, and Congressman Bill Shuster, representative of the 9th District of Pennsylvania, answer media questions during a tour of Chickamauga Lock in Chattanooga, Tenn., March 23, 2012.Congressmen favor opening funding flow for Chickamauga Lock

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (March 23, 2012) – An unfunded and stalled project to replace the crumbling Chickamauga Lock received noteworthy Congressional attention today and it included an expressed interest in opening up a funding flow.