Industrial History: Winfield Locks, Dam and 14.76 MW Powerhouse on Kanawha River

Tuesday, March 2, 2021

Winfield Locks, Dam and 14.76 MW Powerhouse on Kanawha River

I never heard of the Kanawha River until I saw Connie's post below. But it is big enough to not only have a waterway but to have some non-trivial truss bridges over it. I'll save the bridges for another day.

I wonder why this dam was originally built with two rather small locks. The tainter gate between the standard waterway lock and the two smaller locks is interesting. We can see from Connie's post that the main part of the dam uses roller gates. The original locks and dam were built in the 1930s with a cost of $6m. The new lock and gate bay were built in the 1980s and 90s with a cost of $277m. So this dam illustrates the evolution of gate technology from rollers to tainters.

The damming height is 28'. The powerhouse has a capacity of 14.76 MW. "New Main lock is 110' wide by 800' long with miter gates. Twin auxiliary locks each of which are 56' wide by 360' long, with miter gates." [USACE]

Satellite

It appears that they have a broken gate and that allows us to see how much the other gates have been raised.

Connie Bays posted
Winfield Locks and Dam, WV
Christian Townsend: Looks like the river is starting to run

Unfortunately, Lock and Dam #25 on the Mississippi River is also known as Winfield Lock and Dam. I finally found some search keywords to give me results for this dam.

Winfield Lock and dam is one of the essential navigation projects on the Kanawha River, used primarily for the shipment of coal and chemicals for the large industrial complex of Charleston. There are 5 recreation areas at the lock site, visitors center, overlook, observation areas, several nature/wildlife habitat ponds and over 1 1/2 miles of fishing acess. Recreation facilities are located in the pool area.
[ohranger]

I had noticed this photo in today's, 3/2/2021, Chicago Tribune.

Chicago Tribune

So I checked out the hydrological data. The level of the river more than doubled in a little over 24 hours! This is an illustration of the dangers of rivers in mountain valleys.

water.weather.gov

wvncrails
"A very swollen Kanawha River below the Winfield Locks. Some mighty big catfish in these waters and the tail waters of the dam along with the sandy river bottom create ideal habitat. Dan Robie 2011"

We Work the Waterways posted two photos with the comment:

Gary Wendell Photography has provided us with great shots of the Winfield Locks & Dam at Mile 31.5 on the Kanawha River. It sits in Red House, West Virginia across from Winfield, West Virginia.
The two old lock chambers seen on the right were built in 1935. Each could accommodate 4 standard barges or just one modern day jumbo. So 3600-4000 tons maximum for 4 standard barges and 1600-1700 tons for one jumbo.
Then in 1997, the new modern lock was opened. You can see it on the left. Wow! It could accommodate 11 jumbo barges and the towboat for a total of 18,000 tons!
The late West Virginia Senator Robert C. Byrd was instrumental in getting the funding to build both this lock and the one at Marmet at Mile 68 upstream a few years later.

Gary Wendell Photography posted the same two photos with the comment:

Winfield Locks and Dam , Winfield WV.
The Winfield Locks and Dam are located at river mile 31.1 on the Kanawha River at Red House, WV, and is one of three similar projects constructed on the Kanawha River to provide a navigable depth of nine feet. Winfield Locks and Dam is an integral component of the Kanawha River navigation system that provides an efficient, reliable, and economical means for commodity transport. The Winfield Locks and Dam’s navigation pool extends approximately 36 miles upstream to Marmet Locks and Dam. The project was authorized by the River and Harbor Acts of 1930 and 1935 and construction of an additional lock and fish and wildlife mitigation by the Water Resources Development Act of 1986. The original locks were placed in operation in 1935 and construction of the dam and other features completed in 1937. The additional lock chamber was completed in 1997. The project was designed, constructed, and is owned, operated, and maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Alan Hall: The two small original lock chambers to the right built in 1935 could only accommodate 4 standard barges each for a total of around 3,600 tons, or only one modern day jumbo barge for a total of around 1600-1700 tons each. The new large chamber on the right opened in 1997 is 800’x110’ and can accommodate 11 jumbo barges for a total of more than 18,000 tons. The new locks at both Winfield and Marmet sure changed the game big time!

Brian Martin: There are three Hydro turbines on the Winfield side that produce power for the Scott Depot/Teays Valley area owned operated by AEP