Photo By James Finn | A debris field covers as far as the eye can see upstream of the dam at Lock and Dam 20...... read more read more
At Lock and Dam 20 on the Mississippi River near Canton, Missouri, Rock Island District personnel have a very unique situation that occurs every time the river floods. As water levels rise, hundreds, sometimes thousands, of trees float down river and lodge themselves against the upstream side of the lock and dam gates. This mass migration of debris not only prevents the lock from operating, it demands an immense cleanup process.
Jim McDaniel, Lockmaster at Lock and Dam 20, explained that the build-up of debris is the result of a combination of factors including elevation, location and size.
“Lock 20 sits five feet lower in elevation than other locks, which means we flood more often,” McDaniel said. “The Des Moines River also empties out above us which is the main cause for the debris. Additionally, we don’t have a spillway and our 40 Tainter gates and three roller gates are smaller than other locks so the debris can’t pass through and tends to build up more than other locations.”
While all of the cleanup is handled by Corps personnel, a couple different groups carry out the immense task. Lock and Dam 20 employees handle all of the debris removal from the lock walls, the yard and the area that surrounds the site. Maintenance crews from the Mississippi River Project Office in Pleasant Valley, Iowa, then travel to the site to remove debris from in front of the auxiliary gates with a floating crane.
Basic debris removal can start as soon as the river crests and the forecast predicts a drop in water levels. Major cleanup has to wait until levels drop below the 19.5-foot mark on the lock wall. While cleanup of the entire site is the crew’s ultimate goal, the short-term effort is to get the lock operational and reopen the site for commercial navigation as soon as possible.
“We focus primarily on getting back into operations when the river stage falls below 18 feet,” McDaniel said. “At that point, we have the lock ready to go and then we start cleaning up the buildings and yard as time permits.”
The secondary cleanup includes cutting up large debris with a chainsaw and physically removing it from the site. Other tasks include operating flood pumps, washing the mud and sand off the top of the walls and removing bulkheads.
McDaniel says his employees at the lock have become very accustomed to the cleanup process as floods are occurring more and more often and at all times of the year.
“We learn from each event,” McDaniel said. “But the best lesson learned is to be fully prepared and have a good, organized action plan in place for each event, no matter the time of the year.”
| Date Taken: | 12.19.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 12.20.2018 12:24 |
| Story ID: | 304559 |
| Location: | CANTON, MISSOURI, US |
| Web Views: | 483 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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