Lock and Dam #52 was a wicket dam that has evidently finally [2019] been retired by the Olmstead Dam. I include a copy of a satellite image because when the images are updated, the lock activity and the spill across the wicket gates will be gone. Google has a couple of pictures that I would have to tresspass to get:
the side of the powerhouse and the
wickets in the raised position. (Update: now that the dam has been removed, evidently Google has removed the dam location and its photos. Bummer!)
A 5:08 video about #52 and #53 explains why the temporary 1200' x 110' lock needed repairs
As predicted, the dam is now, 2019, under water. I'm surprised how much of the shore is also inundated. Or did the satellite catch the river during flood stage?
When this Bird's Eye View was taken, the river level was higher, the wickets were down, and barge traffic did not have to use the locks. In fact, the locks were underwater. Note that the water is up to the road that goes by the houses on the site.
While studying a satellite image for the Metropolis RR Bridge, I noticed that there were a lot of tows on both sides of the river. They looked like they were tied up to the shore. I then realized that they were all waiting to go through lock #52! This emphasizes how important it is to the river traffic to be able to skip using the lock.
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One of the murals on the seawall in Puducah, KY, is of the locks. Below I zoom into what looks like old and new versions of the maneuver boats that raise and lower the wicket gates.
Next to the mural was this plaque.
This is a downstream view I took during my March, 2015, visit. You can see the end of the powerhouse of which
Google has a side view. I noticed that the Google picture must have been taken from a boat because the river is over 46-feet high in that photo. Like
the powerhouse at the old Newburgh #47 Dam, I can't figure out where these powerhouses had their intakes and outlets.
Below are views looking across the river and downstream.
As is obvious, the pictures were taken from inside the car. The reason is because I'm inside a fence that is posted Authorized Personnel Only. But you are on a two lane road with no shoulders so I'm pretending that I'm in the fenced area to turn around and leave. I did get a little "lost" while I was turning around and the second picture was taken further from the fence then was necessary to turn around. First of all, notice that everything you see here would be under water when the Google picture was taken because the water is above the foot of the powerhouse on the right of the right-most picture. Secondly, notice that the locks no longer have gates. That means the Olmstead Dam must have been operational by March, 2015. (Later I learn this is wrong. Just because I can't see gates in the open position, doesn't mean they are not there.)
USACE has a photo of the wickets in the raised position during low river flow.
During a visit in July, 2015, men were leaving as I was doing my turn-around thing. One of them stopped to watch me. So I turned around and left without taking pictures inside the fence. I stopped where there were some parking spots upstream of the dam. But there was still a fence. I do wish chain-link fences were made with three-inch squares instead of two-inch squares so that a camera lens could fit through them. This is a poor-man's panorama of equipment that was parked upstream of the old locks.
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This is a downstream picture to put in perspective where my "parking niche" was with respect to the powerhouse. The asphalt just beyond the fence is where I turned around. You can see the powerhouse in the distance.
When I analyzed pictures of the
I-24 bridge, I noticed there was some construction in the background up by Lock and Dam #52. I had planned on revisiting the dam on my way home, but I passed by after sunset and could not get any more pictures. So these are closeups from the bridge pictures.
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These photos indicate I was wrong about the lock and dam being retired. It appears the wickets are up and the tows are using the lock. (Update: It was not only used in 2015, it was a choke point on the Ohio River. Olmsted Dam finally made it obsolete in 2019. [
NYtimes])
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WPSD
Problems in 2017 including broken wickets. |
Next to the mural was this plaque.
This is a downstream view I took during my March, 2015, visit. You can see the end of the powerhouse of which Google has a side view. I noticed that the Google picture must have been taken from a boat because the river is over 46-feet high in that photo. Like the powerhouse at the old Newburgh #47 Dam, I can't figure out where these powerhouses had their intakes and outlets.
This is a downstream picture to put in perspective where my "parking niche" was with respect to the powerhouse. The asphalt just beyond the fence is where I turned around. You can see the powerhouse in the distance.
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