Lower Mon Locks, Dams Need Cash
Valley Independent
17 January 2011
By Chris Buckley
If the money would have been fully allocated as planned, the Lower Mon
project would have cost roughly $750 million and would have been
completed in 12 years.
But seven years after that initial completion date, the project is
estimated to cost $1.7 billion - based on the current money stream -
and would not be complete until 2032, 40 years after it began.
That's why congressional leaders in western Pennsylvania are urging the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to step up financial support for the
project that involves rehabilitation of Locks and Dam 2 in Braddock and
Locks and Dam 4 in Charleroi and the eventual removal of Locks and Dam
3 in Elizabeth. That work includes a new dam at Braddock and two new
locks at Charleroi to replace antiquated facilities.
Although the work has been completed at Braddock, much work remains in
Charleroi and Elizabeth.
To date, the project has received $522 million, including $64 million
American Reinvestment and Recovery Act stimulus money, according to
Steve Fritz, Lower Mon project manager.
But until the Inland Waterways Trust Fund is fixed, costs for
construction such as the Lower Mon project will keep going up, Fritz
said.
Since 1986, companies that use the rivers have paid a federal tax that
now amounts to 20 cents on every gallon of diesel fuel used in their
operations.
That money goes to the trust fund and is used to pay for modernization
and maintenance of the waterways systems. The fund and federal
appropriations are supposed to provide equal shares to cover major
projects.
But the trust fund is broken, and congressional leaders have been
considering ways to repair it.
Fritz said if the Lower Mon project were to be fully supported - with
$50 million and $100 million a year depending on work - the project
could be completed in 2023.
Currently, the project is being boosted by federal stimulus dollars.
A river wall at Lock Four is about "98 percent complete," Fritz said.
That work should be wrapped up in February or March at a cost of $104
million.
Work on the upper and lower guard walls at Charleroi - also aided with
stimulus dollars - is scheduled for completion in September at a cost
of $28 million.
"That will give us one wall out of three walls at Charleroi to complete
authorized work there," Fritz said. "Our hopes are that with waterways
trust fund money available, we would be available to finish one lock at
Charleroi, completing the remainder of that river chamber."
One river chamber includes the river wall and guard walls. The cost of
that river chamber would be $300 million.
"The way we're building the Charleroi locks is like building your house
one wall at a time," Fritz said. "That's a very inefficient way to do
that."
Fritz said project managers report to their superiors all factors at
locks and dams 3 and 4 that could put navigation in jeopardy.
That is important because the locks and dams at Elizabeth and North
Charleroi are 75 years to 100 years old.
Last week, U.S. Rep. Robert Casey, D-Pa., in a letter to Assistant
Secretary of the Army Jo-Ellen Darcy, urged the Army Corps to include
funding for locks and dams in southwestern Pennsylvania in its fiscal
year 2012 budget.
The Lower Mon project was one of four in southwestern Pennsylvania that
Casey highlighted in his letter.
The Lower Mon project is receiving support from other members of the
region's congressional delegation.
"Congressman Critz understands how important the Lower Mon locks and
dams are to our local transportation infrastructure, and it is a
priority of his to see that federal funding continues to be made
available for this project," a spokesman for the Johnstown Democrat
said.
Locks and Dam 4 are in Critz's district.
U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, said the western Pennsylvania
Congressional delegation is sending its own letter describing the value
of locks and dams to commerce and jobs.
He said it important to demonstrate to Army leaders in Washington the
importance of the waterway navigation system to such industries as
coal, steel and energy and "the thousands of jobs that depend upon
this, as well as public safety."
Murphy said he is drafting a letter and talking to members of the
western Pennsylvania delegation on both sides of the aisle.
"The key question is where we will get the money from," Murphy said.
Murphy said he has spoken to U.S. Rep. John Mica, the newly elected
chairman of transportation infrastructure committee, about money. He
noted that billions of dollars will be needed for inland waterways
projects vital to western Pennsylvania.
Murphy said the two discussed drilling off the Atlantic and Gulf
coasts, saying that could generate $3.7 trillion in federal revenue, in
part to rebuild locks and dams, highways, and bridges.
"Literally, this can generate 1.5 to 2.5 million jobs next 20 years,"
Murphy said.