Built in 1936, Montgomery Dam on Track for Major Failure

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
29 January 2012
By Chris Togneri

In a cold wind on Friday morning, Lock Master Rick Greenwood stood on a platform at the Montgomery Dam on the Ohio River as a towboat pushed six coal barges into the chamber below.

He pointed out cracks in the dam's piers, heavy rusting on the lift gates and large swaths of exposed rebar on the lock walls where concrete has crumbled away.

Built in 1936, the Montgomery lock and dam needs major upgrades. But federal funding is expected to be cut for a second year in a row.

"What it's going to take is a major failure," Greenwood said. "But by then, it'll be too late."

In 2005, two loose barges crashed into lift gates at the old dam, blowing through two of them. The gates were 20 years beyond their 50-year design life.

Losing the pool -- or letting the water level behind the dam drop because of a failure -- would be costly, Army Corps of Engineers officials said. River industry would halt. Riverbanks would crumble, threatening railroad tracks that run along them. Roadway infrastructure would be heavily strained by the increase in truck traffic.

"Sooner or later, it's going to happen," Greenwood said. "It's just a matter of time."

Chris Togneri can be reached at ctogneri@tribweb.com or 412-380-5632.