A look at the critical repair work being done at Lock and Dam No. 2 in Hastings
HASTINGS, Minn. — An important avenue to transport goods across the U.S. is getting some timely repairs just outside the Twin Cities.
The Army Corps of Engineers has been doing construction work on Lock and Dam No. 2 north of Hastings on the Mississippi River for a few months now. It's a massive project that takes at least a year to plan. In order to do maintenance and repairs, the lock and dam was dewatered. That means the chamber where boats and barges pass through was essentially drained. Dewatering takes about 30 hours to complete. Heavy machinery needed for the repairs sits on a barge while the dewatering occurs, allowing it to lower to the bottom. Once finished, what's left is a massive empty concrete "tub" that's usually holding millions of gallons of water.
"It's just neat to see how well it's still maintaining its structure," said Brandon Johnson, a member of the repair and maintenance crew. "Especially knowing the age of this lock and when it was put in. I think this was one of the ones (from) the '30s."
Billy Thomson is the project manager. He said dewatering projects only happen every 15-20 years. Doing so allows them to make repairs they're aware of but also identify issues they couldn't see when the chamber is filled with water. On top of that, he said the project helps them document, generate and justify future budget packages for additional repairs.
What he couldn't anticipate when planning started over a year ago was the weather. He said crews are grateful for the lack of snow and warmer temperatures throughout the duration of the project.
"It makes a task that is complicated and complex a little bit easier," he said, adding that chances for cold weather injuries have been significantly reduced.
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Steve Heidbrider is the lock master. He said in the past three years Lock and Dam 2 has averaged 6.6 million tons of commodities passing through each year.
"Corn, soybean, cement and fertilizer, also salt but we're not using much salt this year so probably won't be a big push in the springtime," he said.
A barge can carry cargo the equivalent of 134 semi-trailer trucks. A tow boat can push about 15 barges at once along this area of the Mississippi River. It would then equate to a cargo level of 1,050 semi-trailer trucks. That level of commerce traveling along the river shows how important a properly working lock and dam is, said Heidbrider.
During the tour crews were working on the miter gates, which are basically the doors on each end of the chamber. Ensuring they're in tip top shape is critical since they need to handle the immense pressure of the water that they hold in and keep out.
Chunks of cement along the walls were also being carved out and replaced. Heidbrider said that last summer an engineer on a barge walked around the entire chamber, tapping the walls with a hammer.
"I don't know exactly what he listens for, but it must make a different sound because he does the whole walls and then figures out what needs replaced and how deep to go and then comes up with a repair plan for the maintenance crew," said Heidbrider, adding that it took the engineer roughly three days to inspect the entirety of the walls.
Lock and Dam 2 is scheduled reopen it again in early March with barges once again passing through a few weeks later.
