Braddock Locks and Dam Opens After Repair

The Army Corps of Engineers re-opened the large chamber at the Braddock Locks and Dam in the Monongahela River Sunday morning after emergency repairs that took 53 hours and cost half a million dollars.

The Braddock Locks and Dam date back to 1906 and had a major rehabilitation in 1953. Dave Sneberger, Chief of Locks and Dams for the Army Corps of Engineers, says locks on all Pittsburgh's rivers, and indeed the whole country's river system, are old and haven't gotten the resources to maintain them adequately.

Barge traffic had to be diverted to the small chamber, according to Sneberger, which increased lockage time from one hour to as much as eight hours, costing the towing industry hundreds of thousands of dollars. Rehab is scheduled in the next few weeks to strengthen the other gates in Braddock.