MWRD: Lockport Powerhouse Spillway and First Lock

(reference.insulators.info; 3D Satellite)
I have already posted external and internal views of the Lockport Powerhouse. This MWRD posting gives me an excuse to find my old lock (built in 1907) and spillway photos.

MWRD posted
The Lockport Powerhouse, dam and lock, on December 28, 1907.

This picture still has the railroad trestle that was built to move equipment into the powerhouse for construction and maintenance. The concrete structure on the left is the west wall of the original lock. When that lock was opened in 1907, it had the highest lift in the world at 38 feet. [Sign on chain link fence by the lock.] (HAER says that it had a 40' lift and that it was completed in 1910. AmericanCanals says 41'.)

MWRD posted
A view looking south from the top of the dam between the original MWRD lock, at left, and the Lockport Powerhouse, at right, on June 19, 1923, in Lockport, Illinois.

Please see AmericanCanals for some historical photos of the lock.

 

MWRD posted on May 14, 2022
Officials touring the nearly completed Lockport Lock and Powerhouse on August 4, 1907, with a portion of the powerhouse visible at left and the lock gates at right. 
MWRD posted
Officials visit the nearly completed Lockport Powerhouse and Lock on August 4, 1907. The powerhouse and dam are still in operation, but the original lock was later replaced by a much larger lock, built by the state of Illinois and the federal government and opened in 1933, which provides the means for movement of larger vessels between the Des Plaines River and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

HAER-data, p16 from HAER

MWRD posted three photos with the comment:

Today's photos show construction of the Lockport Lock and Dam on May 28, 1907, and officials touring the nearly completed lock and powerhouse later that summer on August 4, 1907, with a portion of the powerhouse visible at left and the lock gates at right. The powerhouse and dam are still in operation but the original lock was later replaced by a much larger lock, built by the state of Illinois and the federal government and opened in 1933, which provides the means for movement of larger vessels between the Des Plaines River and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. We're also including a recent aerial view of the two locks to provide a side-by-side comparison.

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MWRD posted
Construction of the Lockport Lock on April 11, 1907. The lock and the adjacent powerhouse and dam were completed later in 1907. The powerhouse and dam are still in operation but the original lock was replaced by a much larger lock, built by the state of Illinois and the federal government and opened in 1933. Learn more about managing the Chicago Area Waterway System here: https://mwrd.org/chicago-area-waterway-system

MWRD
Construction of the Lockport Powerhouse, Lock and Dam on April 11, 1907, looking south from the west wall of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal with the fender wall in the foreground and the powerhouse in the background. The powerhouse and dam are still in operation but the original lock was later replaced by a much larger lock, built by the state of Illinois and the federal government and opened in 1933, which provides the means for movement of larger vessels between the Des Plaines River and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. 

 

MWRD posted on Jan 13, 2022

Workers inside the Lockport Lock for gate repairs on July 9, 1929. Located at the termination point of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) near Lockport, Illinois, the Lockport Powerhouse and the adjacent lock and dam are used to maintain water levels, provide movement for commercial navigation between the CSSC and the Des Plaines River, and to generate electricity. Learn more here https://mwrd.org/lockport-powerhouse

MWRD posted

 

MWRD posted
 Workers making repairs in the Lockport lock on May 13, 1924. The lock was replaced by a much larger lock by the state of Illinois and the federal government in 1933. 
MWRD posted

Frank Giovetti: dangerous standing under that 40' decayed brick wall, after the water subsides

MWRD posted
Inspection during repairs for the Lockport Lock gates on May 13, 1924.

20140614 0285rc

During a tour of the powerhouse, we were able to walk over the spillway to a chain link fence around the old lock. Here we are over the spillway and looking south. The east wall of the powerhouse is on the right. The concrete structure this side of the still-water canal in the middle of the picture is the old lock. The further concrete wall is the west side of the current Illinois Waterway lock.

I wish they had used handrails instead of chain link. To rub salt in the wound, I see the camera focused on the fence. It normally doesn't do that. Nonetheless, we can see the wood upstream gate.

Unlike the downstream gate, which must be the full height of the lock's lift, the upstream gate only has to be as high as the depth of the shipping channel. You can clearly see the bottom shelf of the gate. In spite of the fence, you can also see part of the bottom of the lock.

Normally, you would not see the bottom of the lock because water that is the depth of the shipping channel would remain in the lock.

Peaking out from under one of the chain links in the above photo is the CN/EJ&E lift bridge.

There were actually two upstream gates. The one we saw above is just to the right of the steel walkway. This one makes you appreciate that the other gate is in pretty good shape.

I held the camera next to a hole in the fence to grab a shot of the current lock. I see a 700' marker, so we are a ways from seeing the upstream gate.

Now I turn my attention to the spillway.

As we walked across it to the lock, I took his upstream view to capture the top of the sluice gate, the debris screen, and the floating debris.

This is the view on the other side looking down the spillway.

The tour guide opened up the gate while I was still by the lock. You can see the beginning of the flow in this picture.

The flow quickly ramped up.

The flow was working its way to the end of the spillway.

As we walked back across the spillway to the powerhouse, the water was at full flow.

The turbulence of the water flow, especially the top few feed, reminds me that this spillway is an old 1907 design. Modern spillways use an Ogee Crest to avoid a turbulent flow over and down the spillway. See the end of that posting for several more pictures of this spillway that I used to illustrate the turbulence caused by an old-fashioned straight spillway design.

I walked to the end of the spillway canal to get an overview shot. The flowing water makes it obvious where the spillway is. The old lock is on the right. The east end of the powerhouse is on the left. The tent was set up so MWRD people say a few words as part of the tour. They were running tour groups all day.

They also had some historical photos set up for the tour. This one not only shows water running, it shows the service railroad is still intact. It also shows at least four smokestacks in the Joliet area pouring out black smoke.

Update:

Justin Marshall posted

Bob Dodge commented on a post

Bob Dodge commented on a post
Dennis DeBruler You can see the diagonal tiebars.

Justin Marshall commented on his post

Justin Marshall commented on his post

Justin Marshall commented on his post

Bob Dodge commented on a post

MWRD posted on Mar 6, 2022
Inspection during repairs for the Lockport Lock in Lockport, Illinois, on May 13, 1924. The original lock was later replaced by a much larger lock, built by the state of Illinois and the federal government and opened in 1933, which provided the means for movement of larger vessels between the Des Plaines River and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

MWRD posted on Mar 12, 2022
Repairs to a portion of the 48-foot dam at the Lockport Powerhouse in Lockport, Illinois, on August 9, 1928.