Summer 2023 Shutdown of Brandon Road, Dresden Island and Marseilles Locks

The Brandon Road, Dresden Island and Marseilles Dams are closed between Jun 1 and Sep 20, 2023 for maintenance work. The Illinois dams have a sign saying it is illegal to use a camera inside the visitor center area. So I didn't bother to make any trips this Summer. So this is what I found on Facebook. I'm disappointed that I could not videos of cranes replacing the miter gates.

Starting with some preparation work

Jan 4:

1 of 4 photos posted by USACE, Rock Island District

Today, the Rock Island District hosted Congressional staffers from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for visits at Brandon Road Lock & Dam and LaGrange Lock & Dam on the Illinois Waterway. These visits gave staffers a chance to learn about the 2023 Illinois Waterway Closures (#ILWW2023Closures), the Brandon Road Interbasin Project (#BRIP) and the Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Project (#NESP). 

The tour will continue tomorrow with stops at Lock & Dam 22 and Lock & Dam 25 on the Mississippi River, to learn more about ongoing NESP projects.

[I'm trying to figure out why Brandon Road L&D would have been dry in Jan 2023.]

Apr 14:

Jan Danielson posted seven photos with the comment: "Corps of Engineers boats near the canal by lock and dam 14 Pleasant Valley, Iowa. I was told that the bulkheads are going to the Illinois River---somewhere. Pictures taken 4-14-23." 

[Some USACE districts call these stoplogs. They are piled up in slots in the dam walls to create bulkheads. They need enough "logs" to build bulkheads at each end of the three locks so that they can dewater the gates.]

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May 1:

USACE, Rock Island District posted
The countdown is on! The 2023 Consolidated Lock Closures on the Illinois Waterway are scheduled to begin in one month! On June 1, the locks at Brandon Road, Dresden Island and Marseilles will fully close to river traffic for much needed maintenance.
(Note: This photo was taken at LaGrange Lock and Dam during the 2020 Illinois Waterway Consolidated Closures.)

The construction begins

Jun 12:

USACE, Rock Island District posted three photos with the comment: "Work is well underway on the 2023 Illinois Waterway Closures at Brandon Road, Dresden Island and Marseilles! With the closures beginning June 1, Rock Island District crews and contractors have been hard at work to ensure the project stays on schedule for a September 30 reopening in time for the busy fall commercial navigation season."

Richard Thomas shared

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Julie Pohlman: What are they doing?
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District: Julie Pohlman in this photo, bulkheads are being placed so that the lock chamber can be dewatered. The bulkheads act as large walls (placed via stacking steel structures on top of each other) that will allow the water to be pumped out of the lock chamber so that crews can work within the chamber.
[The first 2 photos of the July 12 post below shows what the stacked bulkheads look like.]

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Chase Ellsworth: Smoke than pin!!!
[He must be using an oxygen lance to cut out the pin that holds the gate.]

Jun 19:

3 of  5 photos posted by USACE, Rock Island District with the comment: "Last week, several of the new Rock Island District interns had a chance to tour the dewatered lock at Dresden Island, part of the 2023 Illinois Waterway Consolidated Closures. This tour gave them a chance to see something firsthand that only happens a handful of times in a career with the Corps. The work at Dresden includes upper miter gate installation, and replacement of valves, machinery and electrical systems."

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[It had to be expensive just to put all of those cranes into the lock.]

Jul 12:

USACE, Rock Island District posted four photos with the comment: "Work continues at a steady pace as part of the 2023 Illinois Waterway Consolidated Closures. Yesterday, the Brandon Road Interbasin Project (BRIP) Technical Team toured the lock at Brandon Road in Joliet, Illinois. This tour gave the team a chance to see the lock in it's dewatered state as they continue to work on the BRIP and the fight against invasive species."

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[This would be the downstream gate because the stacked bulkhead on the left is considerably lower than the top of the gate. This is a good view of the outlet of the conduit that is used to empty the lock. It is nice that there are people in the lock to give us scale.]

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Jul 17:

Fort Loudoun Lock posted
Here is a fantastic shot from inside the currently dewatered Dresden Island Lock on the Illinois River near Channahon, IL, which is a good stretch downriver from Brandon Road Lock & Dam in the Chicago suburb of Joliet, IL. This Dresden Island Lock & Dam is operated & maintained by the Rock Island District Corps of Engineers. It looks like they did a fine job cleaning silt & other debris out from the lock chamber floor prior to commencing with the actual major maintenance work as well..nice job, folks!

Comments on the above post and the link specified is https://youtu.be/g4u2zZsnZcU

Comments on the above post

Jul 17:

USACE, Rock Island District posted two photos with the comment: "The 2023 Illinois Waterway Consolidated Closures are going strong! The photos here show work being done at Marseilles Lock, specifically a crossover trench being prepared on the land wall, I-wall and bottom of the lock, with conduit, rebar and side forms being installed."

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Screenshot [I do not like Facebook reels. I can't find a date.]
"USACE Rock Island District's 2023 Illinois Waterway Consolidated Closures are past the halfway point! Lots of work to install gates and update electrical equipment, valves, machinery and other needed work. Enjoy this view of Marseilles L/D from last month."
[Actually, this is just the lock. The dam is further upstream at the head of the rapids.
Near the end of the video we can see they are installing one of the upstream miter gates.]

July 28:

USACE, Rock Island District posted a Jul 21 video
Another look inside the work being done at our Dresden Island Lock during the Illinois Waterway closures this summer. This video, produced by the contractor who's completing the work at Dresden Island, shows the magnitude of the project. 
[Note that the crane on the land side is getting ready to lift the second crawler track for the crane that they are building in the lock.]
Jimmy Burns: Alberici baby... we made the deadline... [But a comment on the Oct 2 post at the bottom of these notes says Dresden Island did not open on time.]

Aug 7:

USACE, Rock Island District posted two photos with the comment: "The views from above [below in this format] show just how much work is going on as part of the 2023 Illinois Waterway Consolidated Closures at Marseilles Lock and Dam and Dresden Island Lock and Dam. Work is coming along well and these two locks along with the lock at Brandon Road are scheduled to reopen Oct. 1."

Patrick Kuykendall: How deep are those drops? My dad was assistant lock master at Lockport Lock. We lived in one of the two houses at the lock. He retired in 1988 with 35 years.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District: Patrick Kuykendall The average drop/lift at Dresden is 22' [6.7m] while the average at Marseilles is 24' [7.3m].

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Marseilles Lock from above during the 2023 Illinois Waterway Consolidated Closures.

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Dresden Island Lock & Dam from above during the 2023 Illinois Waterway Consolidated Closures.

Patrick commented to the reply about 22' and 24' lifts with two photos and the text: "nothing like Lockport at 40’. I’ve been in the Lockport valves under the lock during the construction in the 80’s."

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Aug 29:
USACE, Rock Island District posted four photos with the comment: "With just over a month to go on the 2023 Illinois Waterway Consolidated Closures, work is continuing to move along quickly at Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet, Illinois. At this location, sill modifications were made at the upper end of the lock and new upper miter gates and machinery were placed as well.

Brandon Road, Dresden Island and Marseilles locks are scheduled to reopen to navigation on October 1."

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Oct 2:

USACE, Rock Island District posted

📣 GOOD NEWS!! 📣

After a 120-day closure for the 2023 Illinois Waterway Consolidated Closures, the locks at Brandon Road, Dresden Island and Marseilles have reopened to navigation! Here you can see several tows being the first to lock through Dresden Island the evening of October 1.

This scheduled major rehabilitation and maintenance period was critical to maintaining reliable navigation and avoid unscheduled long-duration closures on the Illinois Waterway.

#ILWW2023Closures

Curt Smith: Dresden Island wasn't open in time yesterday. I was there and seen all these boats waiting. Even talked to contractors workers working there.

Chris Larson: Out of curiosity why can't this be done in January like the soo locks? When traffic would be lower.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District: Chris Larson On the Illinois Waterway, the navigation industry runs tows 24/7/365 without any discernable lull in traffic. Therefore, the shortest possible timeframe to get work done (and the least disruption to navigation) is in the summer months when we don’t have to heat concrete or deal with ice, snow and freezing/slippery conditions. These closures were worked out with our partners years in advance, so they had ample time to plan for any changes they needed to make during the closure time frame.

Justin Crowley: Boy… those “tows” are looking good.

[Reading this comment is when it sunk into my brain that we are looking at a tow of towboats.]

Tom Heap: Justin, that's exactly what I was thinking. I guess there were no barges to pick up in Lemont or Channahon. 🙄

Brian Webb: Tom Heap over 200, they was up bound to go get em.

I also need to research the 2020 shutdown.

alberici
"During the 2020 closure, Alberici simultaneously refurbished lock chambers at the Marseilles and Starved Rock locks."