John T. Myers, McAlpine Closures Loom
Scheduled lock closures on the Ohio River could cause some delays.
The main, 1,200-foot chamber at John T. Myers Locks and Dam on the Ohio River at Mount Vernon, Ind., will be closed from July 8 through September 11 for maintenance and repairs. The auxiliary, 600-foot, chamber will be used for lockages. Because of size constraints, industry will be double locking, or splitting tows to fit through the auxiliary chamber, according to the Louisville Engineer District.
Pleasure craft will be allowed to lock after each direction change of traffic, typically every three to six tows. Locking of pleasure craft will be limited to daylight hours only. Arrivals past 7 p.m. are not guaranteed lockage. Pleasure craft should contact the lockmaster via marine radio on channel 13 or call 812-838-5836 to be placed in the queue for lockage.
The temporary closure will allow the fleet to perform routine inspections and place floating mooring bitt racks and hydraulic cylinders.
Additionally, at McAlpine Locks and Dam in Louisville, the north, 1,200-foot chamber will have scheduled maintenance and repairs through November 13. A partial closure of the north chamber during daylight hours continues through June 14 when the lower gauge is below 30 feet and the south chamber is in service.
Beginning June 15, the north chamber will closed entirely to allow miter gate replacement by the heavy capacity fleet.
Luhr Bros. Inc. will also begin dredging June 20. Through July 2, the dredge Bill Holman will be located in the navigation channel. Vessels should contact the dredge on marine channel 13 for passing instructions. From July 3–7, the dredge will be located in the lower approach to the south chamber and not able to pass during dredging operations. Due to the closure of the north chamber, this will be a total river closure. The south chamber will open for up to 12 hours each day to clear the navigation queue.
Additionally, a contractor for the Pittsburgh Engineer District announced that work June 8–12 on the primary lock chamber at Montgomery Locks and Dam at River Mile 31.7 will necessitate a closure of the 110- by 600-foot lock chamber from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on those dates. Upon daily reopenings, tows in queue will be locked in order of arrival. Mariners are requested to monitor marine channel 13 for updates or changes during the periods of chamber closures.
