Massman Gets Contract For Columbia Lock Repairs

The Vicksburg Engineer District announced August 17 it has awarded an emergency contract to Leawood, Kan.-based Massman Construction Company for repair work at Columbia Lock, located on the Ouachita River about 7 miles upriver from Columbia, La.

The base amount of the contract is just over $9.8 million, with a total value approaching $11 million.

“Major features of the work will include stone protection, sheet piling installation, grouting of scour holes. relief wells, foundation repairs, construction of concrete lock chamber blocks, and site monitoring,” according to the Corps announcement of the contract.

Massman is currently at work mobilizing equipment and submitting work plans, according to the Corps, which anticipates completion of repair work by the end of the year.

Columbia Lock will remain closed to navigation for the duration of the repair effort, and the Corps will maintain the pool in that area about three feet below normal to ease pressure on the lock.

“At this time there are no plans to lower the current pool levels any further,” according to the Corps.

In addition, seven boat launches and a swim beach have been closed since early July due to the lowered pool. The lock closure and lowering of the pool were a result of seepage and sand boils observed near the structure and voids identified under the lock wall.

Massman is also at work at another lock in Louisiana: Calcasieu Lock near Lake Charles on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. Work at Calcasieu, which involves construction of a new south guide wall, is scheduled to last through late 2019.