SOUTH MILLS, N.C. – Lock gates weighing 24-tons were lifted from the Dismal Swamp Canal and placed on land for refurbishment work here on Wednesday morning.
Crews will sand blast the gates, which are rehabbed every 15 -20 years, and replace steel, straps turnbuckles and rubber seals over a three-month period.
The gates were previously worked on in 1997.
The Dismal Swamp Canal will remain closed while work is performed on the gates. Boaters will be able to use the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal to get to their destinations.
“We do these repairs during the repairs in the winter months when boat traffic is low,” said Joel Scussel Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway project manager for the Norfolk District.
Originally built by slave labor, the Dismal Swamp Canal is the oldest continually working canal in the United States and continues to offer boaters a safe and scenic journey to points north and south.