Lock gets stimulus boost
By Dave Flessner dflessner@timesfreepress.com
Federal funding for the Chickamauga Lock will more than double this year, thanks to federal legislation that one of the lock’s biggest backers didn’t even support. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Tuesday that the replacement lock at the Chickamauga Dam will get an extra $58.9 million from the federal stimulus plan approved in February. The Corps divvied up $4.6 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act among dams and locks across the nation. The Corps began building a bigger replacement lock for the 67-year-old Chickamauga Lock in 2006 and already was spending $42 million this year to begin work on a cofferdam — a temporary barrier to create a dry work zone in a usually submerged area — and design for the new lock. “The stimulus funding will allow us to fully fund the cofferdam contract and allows us to fabricate new gates, valves
and minor bridges for the project,” said Tom Cayce, chief of the programs and project delivery branch of the Army Corps of Engineers. The Chickamauga Lock, built in the early 1940s, suffers from problems with expansion of the concrete in its walls, causing mechanical problems with the lock doors. The Corps launched a $330 million program in 2006 to replace the crumbing lock with a bigger lock through the TVA dam. Even though he voted against the $787 billion stimulus plan, U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., praised the Corps for putting money in the “shovel-ready” projects for the new Chickamauga Lock. “This is very good news for the Chickamauga Lock, and the Corps is to be commended for its work,” he said. “Every cloud has a silver lining.” Rep. Wamp joined with other Republicans in opposing the stimulus plan, which he said was too expensive and not oriented enough toward infrastructure programs. But he said the lock replacement under way at the Chickamauga Dam is a worthwhile project that the stimulus plan can supplement. Staff Photo by Patrick Smith Construction continues at the Chickamauga Dam Lock on Thursday. The federal stimulus bill will provide an extra $59 million for work on the project.
