Life on the lock

[boyst]

LoL! Too funny!

 

On a much more serious note. Is AOL still around? I don't think his baud rate is fast enough!

No joke, it is. I had an appraiser contact me in a bid for some work using AOL. I did not respond. I figured if he must use AOL to communicate he is not up to speed with current technology that could actually help his job significantly.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Here's what it looks like after the thaw and 4 days of sub-zero weather where no vessels were moving. Ice is about 8 inches thick and this is what shape the shipping lanes are in after about 8 tows have been through on Saturday:

 

Lake Michigan Elevation:

 

 

River Elevation (approx. -2.00 to -3.00):

 

[ExiledInIllinois]

Here is an interesting look @ the next lock down river @ Lockport, Illinois. This lock has a 40 foot drop (head) and the water never freezes. The water is too hot (temp caused by industry) and possibly too "dirty" to freeze. Lockport is located just north of Joliet, Illinois.

 

These taken during the deep freeze, notice the steam coming from the river.

 

Upper Pool (our lower pool):

 

 

Lower Pool (the next lock down's upper pool, Brandon Road @ Joliet,IL):

 

 

Notice that the lower pool has a 40 foot drop, that is how much the lock chamber raises/drops. With such a big drop (head), they generate power here @ this lock.

[ExiledInIllinois]

I probably should hit all 8 locks on the Illinois Waterway.

 

We are @ the third lock & dam down from Lake Michigan. Here is Brandon Road (in Joliet, IL), about a 30 foot drop/raise. Notice they do not freeze also.

 

Upper Pool:

 

 

Lower Pool:

 

 

The drawbridge just below the lock is Brandon Road.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Next is Dresden Island L/D. This is just below the confluence of the Kankakee River (which goes up east through Illinois and Indiana and starts around South Bend, IN). Actually, Marquette preferred this route to Lake Michigan. That is, the Illinois River to Kankakee River to St. Joseph River to Lake Michigan. One of the oldest nuke plants im the country still operates in the area (same name).

 

Drop is about 25'. Notice we start to hit the ice fields again.

 

Upper Pool:

 

 

Lower Pool:

 

 

Next up: Marseilles & Starved Rock. After Starved Rock, we have the "Great Bend" in the Illinois River, remnant of the Wisconsin ice sheet/glaciation. Below there the geography opens flat and level with many tributaries towards the Mississippi River. Below the Great Bend, two locks exist @ Peoria and near Beardstown, IL. They have unique "wicket" dams and I will explain those when I get there.

Edited January 12, 2014 by ExiledInIllinois

[ExiledInIllinois]

Here is Marseilles L/D. The dam their is over a mile away from the lock. There is a canal cut for navigation and an island separates the canal from the river below the dam.

 

Drop is around 20 feet.

 

Upper Pool:

 

 

Lower Pool:

 

 

Canal:

 

 

One final lock & Dam before we hit The Great Bend of the Illinois River and make our way toward Peoria and the Mississippi River. Peoria and LaGrange L/D coming up some other time, I got boats calling and everybody else needs sleep!

 

Upper Pool @ Starved Rock, drop is about 15':

 

 

Lower Pool @ Starved Rock:

 

 

Starved Rock L/D is named for the high rock outcropping right across from this lock & dam.

 

"There are various local legends about how Starved Rock got its name. The most popular is a tale of revenge for the assassination of Ottawa leader Pontiac, who was killed in Cahokia on April 20, 1769, by an Illinois Confederation warrior. According to the legend, the Ottawa, along with their allies the Potawatomi, avenged Pontiac's death by attacking a band of Illini along the Illinois River. The Illini climbed to the butte to seek refuge, but their pursuers besieged the rock until the tribe starved to death, thereby giving the place the name "Starved Rock". The legend sometimes maintains that this resulted in the complete extermination of the Illini. There is no historical evidence that this siege ever happened."

[Keukasmallies]

Yeah, keep 'em coming. Great stuff. I read your post, then check it out on Google Maps.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Yeah, keep 'em coming. Great stuff. I read your post, then check it out on Google Maps.

 

No problem, it is giving a virtual tour of the waterways! I give tours all the time, just never over the internet! I have given presentations @ libraries and schools. I have PowerPoint presentations that I have set up through the years. I am starting to dig through those presentations and glean the pictures, graphics, etc... for this thread. I even have used a working model (dry) of a lock & dam during these presentations... Children @ the schools love those. Some day, I will build a wet working model to scale... Maybe of our lock on the South Side. Am I getting too geeky? :-O

 

I dug up some nice aerial shots too... Shows some "double" lockages in progress @ the other shorter locks. The other 7 ILWW locks are only 600' long x 110' wide (8 w/Chi Harbor Lock, which I think is 600'x80'). My lock is 1000' long x 110' wide (shallow draft Panamax). Peoria and LaGrange (LaGrange is out in the sticks south of Beardstown) L/D's have wickets for dams, that means, when there is high water, they can lower the wickets (dam sections) to the bottom of the river and the vessels can go over the dam. This bypasses the lock process and is called a "navigable pass." During high water, everything @ the lock gets submerged. That means, all handrails have to be hinged on pins and dropped flat, which then becomes the bottom of the river. All machinery has to be removed from their pits. I think @ LaGrange, they sandbag the lock buidlings. They even have protection poles in the ground upriver of trees, so any debris floating down river does not take out the trees. They use a boat to get to the buildings. We still keep track of all vessels and their tonnage that transit the navigable pass. If I remember correctly (I helped out @ LaGrange back in 1999 & 2000), wicket sections are approx. 4' wide. When the wicket is up, it acts like a weir. With that, during low water (usually summer), these two lock & dams can raise the wickets, causing slackwater, the boats then use the lock. Both of these locks have one roller gate too (you will see that in the aerials when I post them). This allows them to "fine tune" the water process w/out having to go out on the boat and raise or lower a wicket when needed to maintain the pool elevation... Say in the middle of the night. They can pass water over the roller gate or under the roller gate. When the water gets really low and they have risen all the wickets (& closed the roller gate) and have a full dam, they can also insert "needles" in between each of the wickets. These needles are like giant toothpicks and stop any water that could leak between the wickets. When doing the math and calculating what has to be raised or lowered, opened or closed, needles very much factor into the "water equation" and they get recorded as to how many are being used. Needles also "fine tune" the water equation. In the old days (still done today), the operators would have to raise and lower the wickets by hand, with a long pole that could reach to the bottom of the river. By the time they got to the last wicket, water was rushing very hard through the small opening... This job could be very dangerous. Now, they can use the arm of a payloader (on the work flat/barge) and reach to the bottom of the river with a special hook that is installed on the payloader's arm.

 

I will post more pics later when I get to my other computer (next couple of days)... I guess I got the background information out of the way w/my previous paragraph. The aerial shots even include Chicago Harbor Lock (@ downtown Chicago by Navy Pier). Maybe BuffaloBill will be able to point out which high-rise he used to live in before moving to CT! ;-) ;-)

Edited January 12, 2014 by ExiledInIllinois

[ExiledInIllinois]

The last two lock & dams on the Illinois Waterway are @ Peoria, IL @ LaGrange, IL. Peoria is 157.6 miles and LaGrange is 80.2 miles upstream of the confluence of the MS & IL @ Grafton, IL. These dams use wickets as explained earlier a few posts up.

 

Here is what a wicket and wicket dam looks like:

 

 

 

Raising the dam. You can see getting to the last few wickets can be in a torrent of water:

 

 

Closeup, notice the water leaking through each wicket. That is where needles can come into play:

 

 

The closeup above shows one last wicket not in place.

 

Locks 7 & 8, Peoria & LaGrange w/dam down and a "navigable pass." Notice the tow pushing tankers over the pass @ Peoria:

 

 

Also, notice the gate structure next to both locks. As explained earlier, that is so they can "fine tune" the pool elevation when the wickets are up.

 

 

Here are current pictures (1/2014) of the two locks, wickets up.

 

Both locks have up to around a 9' drop when dam is up:

 

Peoria Upper:

 

 

Peoria Lower:

 

 

Peoria Dam, all handrails can drop and lay flat druing flooding conditions:

 

 

LaGrange Upper Pool, current:

 

LaGrange Lower Pool, current:

 

Edited January 13, 2014 by ExiledInIllinois

[ExiledInIllinois]

Here is an aerial view of the downtown Chicago Harbor Lock, on Lake Michigan, looking from the lake toward the west. Navy Pier is to the right and a bit cut off, Willis (Sears) Tower to the upper left. There is a dam structure here that utilizes sluice gates. The sluice gates are in the upper right hand corner of Dusable Harbor. Dusable Harbor is the rectangle area w/all the boats slips (docks). This lock on Lake Michigan is @ around mile 330 above the MS River @ Grafton, IL. Where the lock & dam on the Calumet River is @ mile 326.5, still 7 miles from the lake @ Calumet Harbor. @ Chicago Harbor, the upper pool is Lake Michigan, lower pool is Lockport's upper pool.

 

Drop/raise can be anywhere from 0' to 5', depending on lake elevation:

 

 

Here is a day in Chicago. Mostly tour boats and pleasure craft use this lock:

 

 

Here is the profile of the Illinois Waterway that will put the "staircase of water" into perspective:

 

Edited January 13, 2014 by ExiledInIllinois

[ExiledInIllinois]

 

 

 

 

OOPS! How did those get into the slide projector! Oh well, this is a BFLO board first!

[ExiledInIllinois]

Side bar trip: w/regard to engineering and water. Here are some interesting pics. Dam related, they used a cofferdam to do this.

 

American Falls shut off in 1969:

 

 

Same American Falls viewpoint, April 2012:

 

[Beerball]

Yep. This whole invasive issue is really the fly in the oinment! They are talking 10's billions of dollars of the course of 25 years! Huh? It has been taking over 100 to get to where we are now.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-army-corps-asian-carp-proposal-draws-criticism-from-kirk-others-20140112,0,1649213.story

[ExiledInIllinois]

http://www.chicagotr...0,1649213.story

 

I have to tread carefully here. Mods, Beerball, please don't move, this is the last time I will talk about this. I do feel that I owe you an answer Beerball since you commented and linked to it (Trib article).

 

I have seen it all and have read it all, even the inside information I can't make public. This has been going on for over a decade now with the media latching onto it in the last 5 years. I keep abreast of all the information. It really is hard to comment on this because I do not want to come off as partisan or selfish in the debate. All I can say is that we live in a land of unintended consequences. When something new is built or established, an environment cleaned up, etc... what will those unintended consequences be? It troubles me because I know so much on this issue and what the media is feeding people (and the politicians, gasp!) is not the most accurate information. In fact, sometimes it is dead wrong and misleading. Both sides have polarized and fuel the misinformation. Again, very troubling.

 

It really is hard to put down in words what I feel. Kirk is very much right, though I am not so sure about the whole cranking up the voltage thing @ the electric barrier.

 

We have a colossal waste of gov't money on our hands over a silly fish. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that because I want to maintain the status quo and keep going on w/the same old, same old doing my job. I honestly want to see the right thing done. I am really not sure what the right thing is. For now, I am just living in the real-world, working midnights, afternoons, and days locking boats and managing the water.

 

If you really want an answer on where I fall, I tend to follow this voice that is swimming upstream against so many on BOTH sides of the argument:

 

Konrad Dabrowski, from 4 years ago:

 

http://www.dispatch....essor-says.html

 

"...In steps Dabrowski, who said he is driven by professional ethics to present a case that likely won't be welcomed by many people in the anti-carp community.

"I've been following the popular literature as well as the scientific literature," he said, not without irony, and has been astonished by the amount of what he characterizes as public "misinformation," including some testimony presented to Congress..."

 

"...Asian carps were introduced to Dabrowski's native Poland without harmful consequences years ago, he said, to control algae and other unwanted life forms in certain containments.

"There are populations of Asian carp in Europe that are 40 years old and never spawned," he wrote.

Dabrowski dismisses the notion that an electronic barrier will keep the carp out of Lake Michigan. Once in that lake, it'll be only a matter of time before a few reach Lake Erie..."

Edited January 14, 2014 by ExiledInIllinois

[ExiledInIllinois]

I dug up a nice aerial view of Dresden Island Lock & Dam, L/D#4 on the Illinois Waterway:

 

 

This picture is a shot of a northbound/upbound tow that is pushing 15 barges. Since most of the locks on the Illinois Waterway were built in and around the 1930's, the lock chambers are only 600' long. A 600' lock chamber is not too big for modern tows. Modern locks are being built to 1200' long and beyond. 110' wide is still the standard width.

 

Notice here that the tow showed up w/15 barges. Each of these barges are 35' wide. 3 abreast gives them a fleet width of 105'. These barges appear to be about 195 to 200' long. The picture shows what happens when a unit tow shows up and is longer than the lock chamber. The tow is processed in 2 "cuts" or a "double" lockage. The tow comes into the lock chamber wi/all its barges, then breaks (in this case) nine barges off. The tow boat (pushing the barges) then backs out (in this case) with the other 6 barges. The lock gates are closed and the first cut is processed in the direction the tow is going, in this case northbound or upbound (up river). When the lock is done filling (in this case), the lock gates are opened and these 9 barges are pulled out with a tow haulage unit by the lock operator (me ). A tow haul unit (we use Appleton tow haulage units) is a giant winch and cable. The cable is attached to the barges and the barges are pulled clear of the gates. After the first cut is processed, the lock goes back for the other 1/2 of the tow and locks that. After that lock cycle is complete, the tow hooks back up all 15 barges (picture) and heads on its way.

 

This picture is a good example of the double lock process. Notice the picture also shows a downbound yacht/pleasure craft in the lock chamber. This picture was shot inbetween cuts and on the way back down w/the lock. Again, they are processing the pleasure craft in-between cuts. The pleasure boat will leave and then the second cut of the tow will take place. A lot of times they may not be able to process the pleasure boats or other vessels in-between cuts. If the tow haulage CAN'T pull the first cut out far enough, there might not be room for the pleasure boat to squeeze into the lock chamber and go downbound while getting the second cut. In that case the vessel has to wait until both cuts are processed and the tow clears the area. Sometimes double lockages can take many hours to process... Uncoupling the tows cables, locking, winching out, turning back the lock chamber, locking, and then hooking back up the tow. You can see that this process puts strain on industry and their operating bottom line. 1200' or like @ the lock I work, 1000', we process (almost always) nothing but "straight" lockages in and out. @ the longer locks, the need for winches are eliminated.

 

This tow looks like it is pushing 12 coal barges and three covered barges (way up front)... You can see the lock chamber water being emptied for the pelasure boat locking down river. Dresden has just enough room for this pleasure boat to squeeze into that downbound lockage... Between the upper protection cell and the lockwall near the upper gates. Same with leaving, there is enough room for the pleasure craft to squeeze out and get around the second cut waiting when the lock is lowered. You can't lock in what you can't lock out.

 

Notice 3 of the gates on the dam appear to be open quite significantly. To maintain the proper elevation of the upper pool (next lock up's lower pool) they are running the excess water off.

 

Here is an aerial of a FIRST cut of 12 barges @ the lock two locks down, Starved Rock, L/D #5. This tow is heading down river. It has a unorthodox barge config. There is "spike" barge out in front on the tow. Think of a barge that looks like Rudolph on Santa's sled. The reason for this is because there is a 54' wide tanker barge behind it and a 35' wide barge next to that tanker. So, the spike is 35' wide, tanker and covered hopper barge is 89' wide, and then the next nine barges are 105' wide:

 

 

Here are the rest of aerials of the Upper Illinois Waterway... I am pretty sure they were shot in the early 1990's:

 

 

Notice the dam here @ Lockport, IL. It is also a power generating plant. It is the big rectangle building (w/hip roof) where the dam is. There is about a 40' drop @ this lock & dam. Also off in the distance, to the upper left, is Stateville Correctional Center (Prison):

 

 

 

Edited January 15, 2014 by ExiledInIllinois

[Keukasmallies]

Thanks for taking the time to provide us with these pics and your commentary...interesting! What is the difference between the "pie-shaped" lock gate structure, e.g., upper Illinois pic, and those that are simply lock gates?

[ExiledInIllinois]

Thanks for taking the time to provide us with these pics and your commentary...interesting! What is the difference between the "pie-shaped" lock gate structure, e.g., upper Illinois pic, and those that are simply lock gates?

 

The normal type of lock gates are called: miter gates. These are used @ locks that ALWAYS have one pool of water higher than the other end. If you notice the miter or point is facing upstream. (Lockport, Brandon Road, Dresden Island, etc...) The pressure of the head (water difference) is keeping the miter gates tight or mitered when they are closed. Once the water evens out on both sides, or gets close to even, the gates can be made to swing. Normal miter gates can't be opened (without damage) against the pressure of the head. NOTE: @ Lockport, Illinois, the lower gates are miter gates and the upper end @ this lock utilizes ONE gate across the river. This gate lowers onto the bottom of the river and boats go over it! I am not sure what the technical name for this type of lock gate is called.

 

Now, the pie shaped or x-shaped gates (@ Chicago Harbor/downtown they are x-shaped) are called "sector gates." These sector gates look like Trivial Pursuit game pieces. The locks that utilize sector gates sometimes have "reverse flow" or the way mother nature intended to send the water back to the lake (or tidal locks like down in New Orleans, between big bodies of water and river/canal). The lock is engineered so the lake is higher than the river, sending the water AWAY from the lake. ie: diversion of water to keep pollution out of the lake, mitagate flooding, maintain river elevation @ a static level, supply water to the rest of the system, etc.. Chicago and O'Brien lock and dam (the dams are called controlling works) are what changed the flow of the rivers to AWAY from the lake hence the name "controlling works." These locks are "guard locks" and guard against the wild fluctuating water levels of the lake (caused by wind and other factors) while keeping the pool below it @ a static elevation. Sometimes during big rain/wind events, the lower pool gets higher than the lake and the water from the river goes back to the lake. This is what we call "reverse flow." The sector gate design enables the gates to be opened and closed against the pressure of any head created in the opposite direction. When the elevations @ either end flip flop, the sector gates don't creep open like normal miter gates would. Normal locks w/miter gates have to use filling and emptying valves and the chamber will fill or empty through those culvert valve, butterfly gate valves, etc... @ Chicago and O'Brien, they are able to fill or empty the pit (chamber) simply by cracking open the gates a little and letting the water rush in or rush out. Once the water equalizes, then the gates are fully opened and the vessel is let in or out. So basically, sector gates enable the difference in water between both ends of the lock to go either way. They enbale the gates to be opened against the pressure of the water. Sector gates make the lock a "two way lock" that won't have its gates creep open and leak if the water on the normally low end gets higher than the normally high end.

 

Phew! Tricky to put this stuff down in words! We reverse the flow of Mother Nature, but sometimes Mother nature doesn't cooperate and she sends the water back. Reverse the flow only to get it reversed again, that is where sector gates come in over miter gates! Hence, my title under my screen name: "Making it flow backwards." ;-)

 

Oh... If you notice, @ O'Brien, on the upper end (lower left of the aerial view), we have filling valves that control water through a culvert and into the gate recess. In the picture these valves look like tall boxes next to the upper end control houses. This is for filling the pit when we have a bigger difference in water when the lake is @ a higher water stage. Using the valves to fill the pit and raise a vessel creates less turbulence in the pit chamber, snapped lines, etc... than if we just let the pit fill through gates being cracked open a little. @ the lower end there are no valves, we just crack the gates and let the water rush out. Again, sector gates enable the gates to be swung against the pressure of the water whereas miter gates have to have the water almost equal on both sides (use of valves). Another note: @ O'Brien, pleasure/recreational craft do not have to hold on or tie to the wall, they are allowed to float or bob through during the lock process... They just have to stay back from the in or out rushing water @ the gates (12 meter security zone) and wait till the all clear signal is given. Long horn & green light to enter, short horn to leave.

 

This is where a virtual tour is a bit trickier than hands on! I hope this is clear and my typing hasn't failed me! ;-)

Edited January 15, 2014 by ExiledInIllinois

[ExiledInIllinois]

Sometimes it is hard to get a boat view being on the wall. I dug this picture up off the internet a bunch of years ago. It is of the pleasure boat scene @ the lock. Sorry no skin. Just yet that is!

 

 

Here is a semi-crowded lock scene of recreational craft heading down river, back from a day out on Lake Michigan. Looks like about 25-35 boats. A "bow's eye view" from 8/12/2001. A lot of vessels choose to just float through during the lock cycle. If boats want to hang on to the wall, they have to provide their own lines or hook/pole:

 

[ExiledInIllinois]

It is cold out there and and maybe I should spice things up. I don't want you guys to turn on me! I guess I can morph into all things nautical.

 

WARNING: May be NSFW??

 

This is where the pleasure boats head to when leaving Calumet Harbor. They meet up w/boats from all around Chicago and its harbors. This is from an area they call the "Play Pen" which is located off of Oak Street Beach. From August 2011 (Youtube). I think they have one big party a year @ the Play Pen. If leaving from port on the South Side, they take the river out to the lake and then return later that night or weekend day/night.

 

Looks like a nightmare for the USCG...

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZVlUmBuxsc

Edited January 16, 2014 by ExiledInIllinois

[ExiledInIllinois]

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming, the smooth relaxing scenes from Scotland & the Falkirk Wheel:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n61KUGDWz2A

 

Who'd a thought all things locks & dams, canals, boat lifts could have been so much fun!

 

Edited January 16, 2014 by ExiledInIllinois