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.
Dennis DeBruler: If you had a gated dam instead of a fixed crest dam, would you have been able to avoid flooding the lock?
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District: Dennis DeBruler These locks and dams facilities are designed for ensure we have a navigation channel all year round, they are not flood reduction facilities. There are 16 flood reduction reservoirs throughout the Pittburgh District and the operated as designed. Without these reservoirs the Point of Pittsburgh would have had been almost 6 feet higher, the Allegheny River almost 4 feet higher, the Mon almost 2 feet higher and the Ohio River would have been almost 5 feet higher.
[I understand the difference between flood control and run-of-river dams. But all of the other river dams are gated so that they don't obstruct the river during floods. They allow the river  to flow at its capacity. However, since it appears the downstream level is as high as the upstream level at this lock, maybe the dam is not the controlling obstruction in this area.]

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.

Apr 4, 2024: USACE, Pittsburgh District posted five photos with the comment: "After two days of higher than normal precipitation in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District area, the work is just beginning at Dashields Lock and Dam on the Ohio River where the water levels crested at 26.8 ft. Once the high water recedes, the team starts the process of getting the lock ready to receive commercial traffic. This means debris removal, damage inspections, machinery cleanup and more importantly making sure that facility employees and barge crews can navigate the lock safely."

Dennis DeBruler: If you had a gated dam instead of a fixed crest dam, would you have been able to avoid flooding the lock?

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District: Dennis DeBruler These locks and dams facilities are designed for ensure we have a navigation channel all year round, they are not flood reduction facilities. There are 16 flood reduction reservoirs throughout the Pittburgh District and the operated as designed. Without these reservoirs the Point of Pittsburgh would have had been almost 6 feet higher, the Allegheny River almost 4 feet higher, the Mon almost 2 feet higher and the Ohio River would have been almost 5 feet higher.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District: We will have an update video shortly. [3:08 video]

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3:08 video @ 1:09