The Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a 17-million-dollar contract to renovate tow-rail systems at six locks-and-dams on the Mississippi River in southeast Minnesota and southwest Wisconsin. It’s to assist upstream travel of 12-hundred-foot tows through lock chambers that are 600 feet long. Project Manager Kim Warshaw says, “A tow will be taking about half of the barges through, and then the rest of the barges need to hook up to the traveling mooring bitt to travel through the guidewall safely.”
Design work begins this summer, with construction at some sites next winter and at remaining locations the winter after that.
Construction will be at:
· Lock and Dam 4, near Alma, Wisconsin
· Lock and Dam 5, near Minnesota City, Minnesota
· Lock and Dam 5A, near Fountain City, Wisconsin
· Lock and Dam 7, near La Crescent, Minnesota
· Lock and Dam 8, near Genoa, Wisconsin
· Lock and Dam 9, near Eastman, Wisconsin