These are notes that I am writing to help me learn our industrial history. They are my best understanding, but that does not mean they are a correct understanding.
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Flood of 2019: 1860s+1934 Lock and Dam #15, Rock Island, IL on Mississippi River
The dam L&D was constructed between 1931-34. [Tom Sharp comment on a post]
Retro Quad Cities posted A 1931 artist's concept of the $5,000,000 lock and dam project, later to be known as Lock and Dam 15. It would be the largest roller dam in the world and also the only dam on the Mississippi River that is not perpendicular to the river. Brad Wooldridge: 87 million in today’s dollars.
Dana Olson shared Dave Harrington: Prior to dams 14 and 15 canals provided the lift/drop. The Laclaire canal and aux lock 14 still functions. Remnants of the Moline/Rock Island canal are still visible. Most of the two canal walls are submerged and have eaten many pleasure boat drives over the years. Adam Rooster Hensley: I see one big problem with this drawing.... there's no way that tow is fitting in lock 15.
This provides a nice overview of the bridge and the L&D.
USACE, Rock Island District posted two photos with the comment: "Today's 'Then & Now' takes us back to 1966. The clocktower building on the west end of the Rock Island Arsenal continues to stand strong where it has stood since 1932 and houses the Rock Island District headquarters."
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2 of 66 photos posted by Raw Images Art & Photography with the comment:
This Where am I Wednesday I was inside the Clock Tower on the Rock Island Arsenal. The clock tower was the first building on the arsenal - known as Storehouse A. It had become obsolete, however the US Army Corps of Engineers took over the building in the 1930s when they were building the lock and dams. The Clock Tower has been home to the Rock Island District of the US Army Corps of Engineers ever since.
The cornerstone was laid on April 12, 1864. The building was built with stone from LeClaire, Iowa. The tower was built in the summer and fall of 1867 and rises 117 feet. The clock was installed in 1868 and is a Hotchkiss clock. It was wound by hand weekly and took 2 men twenty minutes to do. The clock was later switched to electric winding in the 50s. The craftsmanship of the clock and carpentry of the building is remarkable. I went on an eagle tour this past Sunday. They do free eagle tours every year. I highly recommend all of the Rock Island Arsenal tours as well as a trip to the Rock Island Arsenal Museum.
USACE, Rock Island District posted two photos with the comment: "Today's 'Then & Now' takes us back to 1933 and shows construction of the dam at Locks & Dam 15 in Rock Island, Illinois, nearing completion. Construction of the dam started in 1931 and wrapped up a few months after this photo was taken, in 1934. These photos show just a small section of the 1,203-foot-long movable roller dam, which is the largest roller dam in the world!"
[It remained the largest because roller gates soom became obsolete. The USACE figured out how to make long Tainter gates.]
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Joel Wise posted My first shift on my own as a swing-bridge operator after completing the apprenticeship (and having a spot open up for promotion). I’m a fully certified bridge troll! And the view? I think it’s pretty cool. [He is on the Government Bridge.]
Obviously, this was an emergency repair. Note how high the downstream part of the river is. You can see the prop wash behind the towboat holding the barge in place against the current. They must have the upstream gates open, which is a big surprise. Also, the road was closed during repairs because the bridge span had to be open to make room for the barge.
So, for now, I'll summarize from memory. It was one of the first dams built by the Army Corps of Engineers for the 9-foot channel project for the Mississippi River. At the time, rolling gates were the known technology for big gates, so that is what this dam uses. Since then, the corps has developed the Tainter gate for use in big river dams. Some of the Mississippi dams are hybirds where about four of the gates are still rolling gates. Newer dams use just Tainter gates.
Quad Cities Buildings / Landmarks / History posted
Quad Cities Buildings / Landmarks / History posted
Title
Construction Lock and Dam 15
Date Original
August 11, 1931
Repository
Putnam Museum and Science Center, 1717 West 12th Street, Davenport, Iowa 52804
Note the Government Bridge goes over the lock structures. It carries a road on the lower deck and IAIS/Rock Island on the upper deck.
There is a webcam for these locks. (2019 Update: a webcam link that works) In fact, that looks like the source of the time lapse video. There were other webcams of other views. Some views designed for bird (eagle) watchers. But I can't find them right now.
Flood of 2019:
Screenshot @ -:043
Elle Kay
I have never seen a train go through water like this. This is downtown Davenport, IA. I was up in the sky bridge checking out the Mississippi River flooding.
[She happened to catch the gates of the dam rolled all the way up.]
Webcam accessed 3/26/2019
[Note the river level below the lock is the same as above the lock. At least the water is not in the machinery yet.]
I can't believe I happened to catch the bridge with some engines on it. So while I worked on the adding the above info, I reloaded the webcam page to get fresh photos of the train crossing. The train goes real slow. Several minutes went by before I could catch an image with the train gone. I thought the image used to update every 30 seconds. It seemed a lot longer than that now. In fact, I gave up waiting. I don't think I was getting multiple views of tank cars going by because each sample had the same alignment of the tank car ends with the bridge's truss members.
After a record breaking 92 consecutive days (the old record was 37 days set in 2001), the roller dams at Locks and Dam 15 in Rock Island, Illinois, were finally lowered back into the water over the weekend! The roller dams help keep pool levels steady to maintain a nine-foot navigational channel for commercial barge traffic. #2019FloodFight
Jan Danielsen posted Lock and dam 15 and along the river Davenport, Iowa. Pool 16.
David Sebben posted several photos of the Flood of 2019 with the comment: "Today's flood photos from Davenport, Iowa. Since I work just 2 blocks from the river, I ventured down at lunchtime to shoot a few. I can only imagine how much worse it was many, many years ago when there used to be quite a few buildings on the river side of River Drive. Flood level was at 20.6 feet today." These are some of the views of the dam and locks.
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[The river is near the top of the lock wall under the bridge.]
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Jan Danielsen posted
The river isn't supposed to be past the fence. AND it won't be one of these days. Davenport, Iowa lock and dam 15.
Adding insult injury: the record flooding of the Mississippi River has created a supply chain problem in our nation's bread basket. Contessa Brewer reports from Rock Island, IL
USACE Rock Island District posted two photos with the comment: "When people think about the main use of locks on the river, they think of the navigation industry, but that's not their only use. Our locks are used for recreational traffic as well and this weekend will be a perfect example of that when Floatzilla passes through Locks and Dam 15 in Rock Island, Illinois! Head over to the Mississippi River Visitor Center on the Rock Island Arsenal on Saturday to get a great view of the largest paddle event on the Mississippi River! The Visitor Center will open at 9 a.m. and paddlers will be passing though the locks throughout the morning and early afternoon hours."
U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary - Paddlecraft Safety Division: We'll be there. 🙂
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Art Winstein posted there photos with the comment: "Lock 15A being repaired."
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Joel Wise posted Daniel T Martin making their entrance northbound into Lock 15 this morning.
Seven of the 75 photos posted by Raw Images Art & Photography with the comment: "Next up on the list of my favorite shoots this year is Lock and Dam 15 - dewatered. I went to the welcome center overlook multiple times and my nephew who works for the US Army Corp of Engineers took me down to the bottom of the lock. The pictures are a combination of several different dates so they may not come through in a specific order. There are some pictures in the tunnels underneath the locks too. So cool. Can't say how much I love the US Army Corps of Engineers. Huge shout out to them for keeping navigation open and all the countless things they do that we have no idea."
Tammy Mutka shared with the comment: "Last winter, lock and dam 15 on the Mississippi River, was dewatered for maintenance. These are photos taken from the observation deck and below from the floor of the dewatered lock. One of my favorite shoots last year! Thank you USACE. Thank you tow boaters. Merry Christmas 🎄"
Obviously, they get equipment and material in the lock by floating these barges in before they pump out the water.
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A closeup
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Looking the other way, we see the ramp at the end of a barge that they use to drive the equipment off the barge. We can also see, near the bottom of the lock, the holes through which the water flows to fill and empty the lock. This is also a nice view of the IAIS/Rock Island Bridge.
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This is the business end of the excavator attachment that is used to removed concrete.
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Note the holes along the lower right side of this tunnel. Those are the holes that we saw in the lock chamber. This tunnel is what the water flows through.
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A view with people to provide scale.
g The author commented: "This is under the lock. You could drive a semi down there"
1 of 60 photos posted by Raw Images Art & Photography For those of you who know me - you know I love those red cranes. This one is a Seatrax that is currently docked at Lock and Dam 15. It belongs to the US Army Corp of Engineers and is a floating crane called the Quad Cities. I was told they just finished working on the up river gate. This crane is a beast. If you like cranes, you will love these photos. Shout out to the US Army Corps of Engineers Rock Island District. Xzantronos Aldreas: I got to take a Tour of it, I was on the M/V Gladys Ford that brought it to it's first job at Leland Bowman locks in the ICW. Here is a fun fact. It has an automatic ballast system that keeps that big girl level while in operation. Tammy Mutka shared
Brandon Philips provided four photos with the comment: "Joel Wise operating the Bridge so the LST 325 can lock though." [I changed the order to put them in chronological sequence.
USACE, Rock Island District posted four photos with the comment: "This week, Rock Island District dredging crews were working below the lock at Locks and Dam 15 in Rock Island, Illinois, removing sediment from the navigation channel. Dredging is an integral part of yearly channel maintenance to ensure the navigation industry can continue moving up and down the river. District crews can remove up to five barges of sediment a day and this year plans to dredge 750,000 cubic yards of material."
Melissa Cook: Where do they put 750,000 cubic yards of sediment?
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District: Melissa Cook the sediment is placed in areas based on our Dredged Material Management Program (DMMP) which evaluates and identifies preferred dredged material placement sites. You can read more about the program here:
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