Kaskaskia River Supporters Celebrate Two Anniversaries
About 300 people gathered aboard a barge at Modoc, Ill., next to the Jerry Costello Lock and Dam on the Kaskaskia River, to celebrate two anniversaries—as well as progress earned and progress to come. They were handed commemorative coins and T-shirts to mark the occasion and were invited to sign a banner.
The gathering marked the 50th anniversary of the lock and dam (formerly the Kaskaskia Lock and Dam), the single lock and dam at the mouth of the Kaskaskia River where it joins the Mississippi River. It is also the 25th anniversary of the Lower Kaskaskia Stakeholders Inc. (LKSI), the group that championed a declining river and port system and turned it around to the point where its cargo tonnage has been increasing—with the promise of still further growth to come.
The attendees were all members and/or sponsors of public and private groups that have taken part in the Kaskaskia renaissance. They represented the Corps of Engineers as well as the LKSI, the Kaskaskia Regional Port District (KRPD), Gateway FS and the Farm Bureaus of the three counties that make up the KRPD. Kurt Johnson, CEO of Southern Illinois Transfer, was aboard, as well as George Andres, former head of KRPD. Norma Hall, one of three original founders of LKSI, was present to greet people, although she “retired” two years ago at the last Kaskaskia River boat trip in 2022.
After guests trooped aboard, volunteers served out a fried chicken dinner courtesy of Lisa’s Market Street Grille in nearby Prairie du Rocher, a venue that has provided meals for many previous cruises. Guests then sat down at long trestle tables to listen to speakers who extolled the progress of the Kaskaskia River Project.
First up was Courtney Wilson, operations project manager for the St. Louis Engineer District’s Carlyle Lake Project and Kaskaskia River Project. She started out as an assistant manager during the flood year of 2015.
As the barge, pushed by the Patricia A., eased into the lock chamber, Wilson explained that Carlyle Lake, a recreational lake with a sandy beach in the middle of Illinois, is one of the headwaters of the Kaskaskia River, which is commercially navigable along the lower 36 channelized miles of its total 320-mile length. Wilson spoke of how the lock and dam required extensive repairs and upgrades after the flood of 2016. Wilson thanked all of the project’s supporters and partners.
“This level of cooperation is not the norm,” she said.
Wilson also observed that levees along the Mississippi River near the Kaskaskia’s mouth were built up with dredged material from that river. The Corps is always looking for innovative ways to use dredged material, she said.
The coal industry originally provided the push for early development of the Kaskaskia River region, she said. Southern Illinois is rich in coal, but the coal boom began petering out in the early 2000s as the Environmental Protection Agency tightened up emissions regulations, and coal-fired power plants reached retirement age and closed down.
Moving To The Future
Congressman Mike Bost, who has represented Illinois’ 12th District since 2015, then spoke. He was 14 when the Kaskaskia River Project began, he said.
“It’s hard to overstate the importance of this lock for the local economy, and it’s great to see it moving into the future,” he said. “The flood of 2016 was a turning point, but with the major repairs after that flood, it now has a backup generator, a new administration building and security cameras. We are better prepared than ever to survive even the worst.”
Further upgrades worth $20 million are on the way, he said. The work will include replacing the miter gear cylinders, re-aligning the upper gates and repairing the upper crane.
“Keep your sights set on the future,” Bost said. “This is a strong link in America’s chain of commerce.”
Next to speak was Col. Andy Pannier, commander of the St. Louis Engineer District. He is a son of the region, having served as a medic for five years before earning a degree in conservation biology at Eastern Illinois University and serving an internship at Carlyle Lake. There he met LKSI founder Norma Hall, who was working with an inmate labor program to improve the site. Pannier thanked all the founders and supporters of LKSI, as well as Bost.
“This waterway is part of our national security and has links with 12,000 miles of inland waterways,” he said. “They are what keep America strong.”
Pannier also noted that strong partnerships are what keep the project going.
“We can get nothing done without them,” he said. “Thanks to strong investments in recent years, we’ve kept the river open more consistently [with dredging] than we did in 2012.”
Tonnage Is The Measure
Ed Weilbacher has been general manager of the KRPD, which encompasses St. Clair, Monroe and Randolph counties, since 2011.
He began his talk with the remark, “We are measured by tonnage. We have moved 80 million tons on this river. By 1999, we were at a low point, down to 400,000 tons a year as coal was going away, from a heyday of 4 million tons a year. But by 2012, we exceeded one million tons. In 2023, we were back up to 2.4 million tons. And these were diversified tons to replace coal. KRPD 2 at Mile 18 ships gypsum, fertilizer, steel and miscellaneous commodities. KRPD 1 at Mile 24.5 has a roll on/roll off ramp and ships gypsum, fly ash and scrubber stone. The terminal at Evansville, Ill., at Mile 10 handles grain. We will soon exceed the coal tonnage of the past—in a diversified market.”
Weilbacher said in the past two years the Kaskaskia River region has received $35 million in infrastructure grants—matched by $30 million in private investment. He said the KRPD has been purchasing land strategically to prepare for the future.
As the barge turned around in the river, the jumping carp were relatively quiet.
In past years, the LKSI has had local musicians perform aboard the barge cruise. But this year, as the barge nosed its way back onto the ramp at the Jerry Costello Lock and Dam, guests stayed for drinks, music and a fireworks show at the shoreside pavilion.
