1939 Mississippi Lock and Dam #12 at Bellevue, IA

(HAER; John A. Weeks III; Satellite with photos; Satellite with #12 label)

John A. Weeks III
The main dam structure is 849 feet long, consisting of seven Tainter gates and three roller gates. There is an additional 7,000 feet of earth embankment that includes a 1,200 foot secondary spillway.
Located on the other side of the river is the now closed, but still closed off, Savanna Army Depot. This is the place that the US Army would go when the US Army wanted to be alone. This was where the Army manufactured chemical weapons, was the main storage area for Army nuclear weapons, a former factory site for depleted uranium shells. It may take decades for the government to clean up that area well enough to open it up to the general public.

USACE and USACE
The movable dam consists of seven submersible Tainter gates (20 feet high by 64 feet long) and three submersible roller gates (20 feet high by 100 feet long). The dam system includes two, non-overflow, earth and sand-filled dikes; two transitional dikes; and a concrete-covered, ogee spillway, submersible earth and sand-filled dike. The foundation is set in sand, gravel and silt.

 

The short length of the Tainter gates and the presence of roller gates indicates this dam was built during the evolution from using roller gates to using Tainter gates. By the time all of the Mississippi dams had been built, the use of roller gates was obsolete. The submersible gates allows ice and river debris such as logs to flow over the gates rather than to jam up against them.

HAER IOWA,49-BEL,1-
2. GENERAL VIEW OF DAM, DOWNSTREAM SIDE, LOOKING FROM GUIDEWALL - Mississippi River 9-Foot Channel Project, Lock & Dam No. 12, Upper Mississippi River, Bellevue, Jackson County, IA

Perry White posted
Bellevue, Iowa
[The comments include a couple of big fish stories.]

Street View

Street View

Given the town on the left, this would be looking upstream so the river must be high.

June 15, 2022: Cory Christopher posted, cropped
Lock No. 12 on the upper
Dennis DeBruler: It looks like the Tainter gates get priority over the roller gates because they are up but the roller gates are still down.

I wondered why the crane gantry goes past the last Tainter gate on the the right. That is because they store the bulkhead "logs" there.

Satellite

HAER IOWA,49-BEL,1-
VIEW OF LOCK CONSTRUCTION ALMOST COMPLETE. November 1934

HAER IOWA,49-BEL,1-
GENERAL VIEW OF DAM CONSTRUCTION. May 1937

USACE, Rock Island District posted two photos with the comment:

Retro Quad Cities shared

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June 6, 2022: Screenshot from an article about $1.2b allocated to USACE Rock Island District

2 of the 36 photos posted by Raw Images Art & Photography with the comment: "This weekend I went up to Lock and Dam 12 in Bellevue Iowa to see the lock dewatered.  The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is doing maintenance on the lock during winter.   Locks are dewatered about every 30 years.  Interesting thing is that the bottom of lock 12 is cement and there is about 4 inches of water in the bottom.  Very different from Lock 15 that we got to go down to the bottom of last year and see.  The dam is in a couple pictures.  It has 7 tainter gates and three roller gates.  Still amazed every time I see our locks and dams.  Huge shout out to the USACE for keeping the river open and operating the system."

Tammy Mutka shared

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USACE, Rock Island posted three photos with the comment: "Work continues at Lock and Dam 12 in Bellevue, Iowa. Check out these aerial shots from the dewatered lock as it undergoes winter maintenance. While dewatering a lock is a pretty routine endeavor, it only happens once every 30 years or so at each lock. The lock will reopen in early March for the busy spring commercial traffic season."

Dave Harrington shared

Dave Harrington: It looks like the downstream gates are open, and a weir wall is being used instead.I understand miter gates are 'self sealing' from the water pressure upstream. I've wondered how dewatered lower gates stay closed without something backing them up.

...possibly this wall handles this?

Fort Loudoun Lock shared with the comment: "Wow....Quite the aerial view of Upper Miss Lock & Dam #12 while it's completely dewatered for major maintenance. The ice on the upstream side of the dam is also an amazing spectacle. That's some very cold 🥶 working conditions for those dedicated maintenance personnel as well!"

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USACE, Rock Island District posted a link
Col. James H. Wilson arrived in Keokuk, Iowa, to survey portions of the Upper Mississippi River. Since that time, surveying has changed, and so has the river, but the need for mapping and measuring remains.
Check out this article from the February/March issue of the Tower Times to learn how the District's new survey equipment was used for the first time to conduct inspections of the detwatered chamber at Lock and Dam 12.

May 9, 2023: USACE, Rock District posted

GOOD NEWS! More locks have reopened on the Mississippi River as the water levels continue to recede. At this time, Lock 16 in Illinois City, Illinois, and Lock 17 in New Boston, Illinois, are the only locks that remain closed with both anticipated to reopen towards the end of this week.

For the most up-to-date lock status information, click here:   https://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/Lock-Status/

Pictured: Lock and Dam 12 in Bellevue, Iowa. This photos was taken last week as flood waters still inundated part of the area. The lock has since been reopened and navigation has resumed in the area.

Angel Binner shared

Riverview Boat Store & Tug Service  posted
Everyone keeps posting pictures of the American Queen. Well this is me posting a picture of the Jean Marie, the American Queen just happened to photo bomb the picture.
[Going down river.]
Erin Grantham: The absolute best boat store and people on the water hands down!
Sherry Brown Whitehead: Why does Jean Marie follow along?
Riverview Boat Store & Tug Service: Sherry Brown Whitehead they are having us follow for safety. They had a mechanical issue. They have not had resolution yet.