Monday, March 28, 2022

1929 Dashields Locks & Dams on Ohio River

(Satellite)

Unlike the Emsworth Dam that was rebuilt as a gated structure between 1935-38, this dam is still a fixed crest type dam. It is the only one left on the Ohio River.
USACE
Dashields eliminated Lock and Dam 3, an old style wicket dam, which was built by the Corps from 1899-1907. It averages about 450 commercial lockages every month, plus another 200 to 300 lockages of pleasure craft during the summer months.

USACE Pittsburgh District posted
Long before the PittsburghDistrict constructed Dashields Locks and Dam (pictured here) and other locking facilities, boating on the Ohio River posed a treacherous journey if you left at the wrong time of year.
“Never did any party undergo more fatigue than mine has done through the lowness of the Ohio,” wrote Lieutenant George Phyn, who led the 21st Regiment of Foot down the Ohio River in 1767 convoying a chest of silver and wine to deliver to troops downriver.
Phyn left Fort Pitt on September 29, and a 981-mile journey that should have taken 11 days took nearly two months.
He informed his commanders that no army units should leave Fort Pitt after June 10 in any year. During the dryer months, the low water stages of the Ohio bared the rocky bottom and sandbars that obstructed the stream.
Thanks to the PittsburghDistrict, the Ohio River and many of our navigable channels are completely unrecognized (in a very good way!) from the bodies of water they were in the early years of our nation’s development.
Our river dams form pools of elevated water that allow even large towboats and heavy barges to navigate with confidence. Our locking chambers offer a safe passage, acting as elevators as boats pass from one elevation to the next.

The results of a Google search reminds me that a fixed crest dam is a "drowning machine." This dam is particularly dangerous because kayakers on the Ohio River expect to see big structures above the dam long before they get to the dam so that they know to head for the correct shore to get in the slack water behind the lock. 

USACE posted
We've received a few complaints from anglers upset that we moved our warning buoys downstream of Dashields Lock and Dam -- closing off "some of the best fishing spots around!" In fact, the river moved them. Several locks and dams have missing or displaced buoys due to the recent high water. SOME UPSTREAM BUOYS HAVE BEEN PUSHED CLOSER TO THE DAM and some downstream buoys have been swept away from the dam. Be especially aware and attentive while on the rivers. The graphic provided by our lockmaster shows the current location of buoys at Dashields. We'll reset the buoys when river conditions allow safe retrieval and placement. 


The smaller lock can handle only one barge at a time and it is creating a big "traffic jam."
Clayton Adams posted
It's become a river parking lot with single barge locking..both locks, 6 miles a part. We'll be tied off to the bridge before its all said and done..lol!!!
Heather Brown Hensch: Emsworth and Dashields locks below Pittsburgh. We're pulling cuts at Emsworth now.



1 comment:

  1. There is no reason not to make this a wicket style dam especially in high water
    The lift is small enough

    ReplyDelete