Cannelton Locks And Dam
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The Cannelton Locks and Dam is a tainter-gated dam with two locks on the
Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...
, on the border between the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
s of
Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
and
Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
. The dam is southeast of
Cannelton, Indiana Cannelton is a city in Troy Township, Perry County, Indiana, Troy Township, Perry County, Indiana, Perry County, in the U.S. state of Indiana, along the Ohio River. The population was 1,524 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Cannelton ...
. Construction of the locks began in July 1963. The locks began operation in December 1966 and were completed April 1967. Construction on the dam started in August 1965 and the dam was completed in 1974. The structure was designed, built, and is operated by the
United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...
Louisville District.


Dam

The Cannelton Dam is located at
river mile A river mile is a measure of distance in miles along a river from its river mouth, mouth. River mile numbers begin at zero and increase further upstream. The corresponding metric unit using kilometre, kilometers is the river kilometer. They are an ...
720.7 (measured from
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
) and has two sections. The main section is long with twelve
tainter gate The Tainter gate is a type of radial arm floodgate used in dams and canal locks to control water flow. It is named for its inventor, the Wisconsin structural engineer Jeremiah Burnham Tainter. Tainter, an employee of the lumber firm Knapp, ...
. The gates are held between piers. Each gate is high and long. Electric hoists on top of the piers are used to raise or lower the gates. At the end of the gated section of the dam there is second section, a concrete fixed
weir A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
on the Kentucky side of the river. The weir is long.


Locks

The Cannelton Locks run parallel to each other on the Indiana side of the river. There are two locks alongside the dam, the main lock which measures by and the auxiliary lock that is by . The locks can be filled or emptied in around 8 minutes. The upper pool is normally at an elevation of , mean sea level and the lower pool elevation is , mean sea level. The lift (difference) between the two pool is . of water is required to operate the lock. The locks reduce travel time because it enables large commercial tows to go through only one lockage rather than the three locks it replaced. Also the large lock chamber allows a large vessels to pass through the lock in a single operation instead of using smaller lock sections.


Authorization and construction

On January 27, 1960, the project was approved by
Secretary of the Army The secretary of the Army (SA or SECARMY) is a senior civilian official within the United States Department of Defense, with statutory responsibility for all matters relating to the United States Army: manpower, personnel, reserve affairs, insta ...
, Wilber Marion Brucker. Under the authority of Section 6 of the
Rivers and Harbors Act Rivers and Harbors Act may refer to one of many pieces of legislation and appropriations passed by the United States Congress since the first such legislation in 1824. At that time Congress appropriated $75,000 to improve navigation on the Ohio an ...
, approved March 3, 1909, the existing Locks 43, 44 and 45 were replaced. The construction of the locks began in July 1963. The locks began operation in December 1966 and were completed April 1967. Construction on the dam started in August 1965 and the dam was completed in 1974. The structure was designed, built, and is operated by the
United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...
Louisville District. There were of overlook property that was initially built during the construction project. In 1995, the property was excessed to the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is a List of federal agencies in the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior which oversees the management of fish, wildlife, ...
for use as a
wildlife habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
.


Hydroelectric power

American Municipal Power (AMP) is currently outfitting the dam to divert water to three bulb turbines to generate an average gross annual output of approximately 458 million kilowatt-hours (kWh). The project includes the construction of an intake approach channel, a concrete powerhouse, and a
tailrace A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous blade ...
channel. The powerhouse will contain three horizontal 28 MW bulb-type turbine and generating unit with total rated capacity of 84 MW at a gross head of . Construction began in 2009. Excavation and cofferdam construction was completed in 2010. Powerhouse construction began in 2011. All concrete work on the powerhouse has been completed and work has begun on the interior. The project that will cost an estimated $416 million. The plant reached full commercial operation in June 2016.


See also

*
List of locks and dams of the Ohio River This is a list of locks and dams of the Ohio River, which begins at the confluence of the Allegheny River, Allegheny and Monongahela River, Monongahela rivers at Point State Park, The Point in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and ends at the confluence o ...


References


External links


US Army Corps of Engineers: Cannelton Locks and DamAdvanced Hydrologic Prediction Service: Ohio River at Cannelton Lock National Weather Service
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cannelton Locks and Dam Dams in Indiana Dams in Kentucky Buildings and structures in Hancock County, Kentucky Dams on the Ohio River Transportation buildings and structures in Perry County, Indiana Buildings and structures in Perry County, Indiana United States Army Corps of Engineers dams Locks of Indiana Locks of Kentucky Hydroelectric power plants in Ohio Hydroelectric power plants in Indiana