Photo By Katelyn Newton | The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed work at Green River Lock and Dam 1 in Reed,...... read more read more
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently completed work at Green River Lock and Dam 1 in Reed, Kentucky. The lock chamber was closed from Aug. 4 - 27, followed by a second closure from Sept. 29 - Oct. 17 to allow the team to perform critical miter gate repairs ensuring the long-term reliability of the project. The critical maintenance project was divided into two phases to support local industry and to keep commerce moving.
Louisville District Locks and Dam Manager Brad Stout and locks and dams staff began meeting in 2024 with key industry stakeholders to emphasize the importance of performing this critical maintenance. These discussions helped establish clear timelines, provide realistic expectations, and develop a plan to stockpile material, ensuring operability of affected facilities in the area.
“The project was split into two phases to help support local industry,” said Travis McKim, Louisville District project manager. “Since this is a single chamber facility, the split allowed for barges full of material to be passed through the chamber to prep for the duration of the second closure.”
“The 25-day closure durations were decided since industry could stockpile up to a 30-day supply of material. The contractor performing the work agreed to start doing any prep work possible before the closure so that we would be ready to roll on day one,” McKim added.
The work involved lifting the miter gates out of the water to preform detailed inspections and conduct needed repairs. Miter gates, which act as giant doors to control the flow of water and vessel movement through the chamber, are critical to the function of inland navigation. The gates were last picked out of the water and worked on in 1999.
“We picked the miter gates in the wet to perform inspections, perform weld repairs on the gates, and replace the pintle casting bolts. By having the crane on site, we were also able to replace the existing anchor arms, which were cracked,” McKim added. “These repairs will help extend the life of the gates substantially.”
The team finished the work ahead of schedule, which was a big accomplishment and a crucial one.
“If the chamber was not back open in time, the team risked the potential shutdown of a local industry partner that employed over 600 people,” McKim said.
Strong teamwork and communication were key drivers of success.
“Planning, open communication, and lots of it,” McKim added. “The contractor, site personnel, and OPT-M worked as closely as they could to plan out any future obstacles that could arise.”
With the repairs complete, the facility is now better positioned for long-term reliability – all thanks to the meticulous planning, strong coordination, and a dedicated team committed to keeping the nation’s navigation system running safely and efficiently.
| Date Taken: | 10.24.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 12.30.2025 08:09 |
| Story ID: | 555367 |
| Location: | KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 18 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, USACE completes two-phase miter gate repair project ahead of schedule, by Abby Korfhage, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
