TRVA Previews Conference Agenda

Aging infrastructure will be a prime topic of the Tennessee River Valley Association Conference September 30-October 1 in Franklin, Tenn.

TRVA executive director Cline Jones said issues at Holt and Demopolis locks this year that required extensive repairs should be considered the “canaries in the coal mine” warning of potential issues at other locks and dams in the region.

That’s especially true with 80 percent of the nation’s inland waterways navigation infrastructure beyond its 50-year design life and with the average age of lock chambers on the Tennessee River climbing to 75 years. Additionally, Jones said, the auxiliary chamber at Wilson Lock, relied on heavily when the main chamber is unavailable, will be turning 100 next year.

The conference will begin with an opening reception at 5:30 p.m. September 30 at the conference site, Embassy Suites By Hilton Nashville South Cool Springs in Franklin.

The Tennessee River Valley Association and its Tennessee-Cumberland Waterways Council board of directors will meet beginning at 8 a.m. the next morning, with the conference getting underway an hour later. Those interested in registering for the conference may do so online at trva-tcwc.com under the “events” tab.

Presentations will include those from both the Nashville and Mobile Engineer Districts, including an update on projects at Holt and Demopolis locks and dams as well as on the Chickamauga and Kentucky locks and dams. The Tennessee Valley Authority will provide information about the progress toward both long-term and short-term guide wall replacement projects at Wilson Locks and Dam. Additionally, Waterways Council Inc. will give an update on what is happening in Washington, D.C., and the Tennessee Department of Transportation will discuss the results of a recently completed waterways study.

The update on the guide wall replacement at Wilson Lock is a major regional interest, Jones said.

In late August 2021, remnants of Hurricane Ida contributed to the sinking of a floating guide wall at the main chamber, completed in 1959, at Tennessee River Mile 259.4 in Florence, Ala.

The short-term replacement involves positioning a series of three large, interlocking spud barges of the type usually used for work offshore and driving the spuds into the riverbed. Vessel Repair Inc. Of Port Arthur, Texas, is building the barges, and delivery of the barges to TVA is expected in three phases beginning early next year. It will then take until sometime in the fall to complete outfitting the barges and positioning them for operation, Jones said.

Helper boats, including ones provided by TVA, assist in pushing nine upbound barges at a time into the lock and pulling them out to make room for the rest of the tow, doubling the time for upbound traffic traversing the lock from two to about four or sometimes five hours, Jones said.

Downbound tows have to be broken and rebuilt one barge at a time inside the lock chamber’s upper gates and can take up to 12 to 15 hours, with no downbound traffic permitted after nightfall.

For a permanent fix, TVA has contracted with the Corps of Engineers to complete an estimate of what a new guide wall would cost. The estimate is expected before October 1. Jones said he would like to see authorization for funding included in the 2024 Water Resources and Development Act.

Lt. Col. Robert W. Green, Nashville District commander, and his team are scheduled to give presentations that will include an overview and update of both the projects at Chickamauga and Kentucky locks and dams.

While full federal funding has been received to complete the Chickagmauga project, a lawsuit involving contractor Shimmick Construction Company over workforce availability and other issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic has been in federal arbitration several months, Jones said.

At Kentucky Lock, “We’re eager to get an update on their progress and the current timeline,” Jones said, noting that the Corps now requires reevaluation of costs every two years, and required funding is due to be recalculated again soon.

Jones said he also hopes to hear how some of the same techniques that have been used to treat cracking caused by concrete accretion at the Chickamauga Lock Replacement Project are being developed for permanent repairs at Holt Lock, which he called an important lesson learned from the work at Chickamauga.

Deb Calhoun, senior vice president of Waterways Council Inc. will talk about WCI’s efforts to include language in the WRDA bill that would include full federal funding through completion for all projects originally believed to be funded to completion under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Jones said. Also called the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the measure took effect in November 2021. However, several projects, including Kentucky Lock, have reported major cost increases since then due in large part to inflation.

Jones said without the wording in the WRDA bill, it would be difficult for the projects to advance in a timely manner using only funding from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund, given the millions of dollars in federally authorized projects where construction has yet to begin.