WEEKEND COMING UP. AND THAT SEVEN-DAY FORECAST. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, ERIC, FOR THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS, WE HAVE ALL BEEN DEALING WITH COLD AND ICY CONDITIONS. FOR MOST OF US, DEALING WITH IT IS AN ANNOYANCE. BUT OUR SAM CARTER FOUND OUT FOR THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS KEEPING THE LOCKS AND DAM RUNNING IS A MATTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A WHILE, AT LEAST, THERE IS ICE ON THE OHIO RIVER NEAR THE MCALPIN LOCK AND DAM. DON’T WORRY, THEY GOT A PLAN. IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN IT ALREADY. THERE THEY ARE. THE ICE FLOWS CURRENTLY ON THE OHIO RIVER. EVEN IN THESE CONDITIONS, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF POUNDS OF CARGO ARE PASSED THROUGH THE DOORS OF THE MCALPIN LOCK AND DAM EVERY SINGLE DAY, ACCORDING TO THE AREA OPERATIONS MANAGER WITH THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, GARY BERG, ICE CAN PRESENT REAL ISSUES IN KEEPING THE DAM OPEN. IT GETS CHALLENGING WHERE YOU CAN’T GET THE GATES BACK INTO RECESS. YOU GET ICE BUILDUP ON THE WALLS. OF COURSE, THE MORNING, IN ORDER TO KEEP THE LOCK AND DAM ICE FREE, THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS UTILIZES MACHINERY WITHIN THE DAM ITSELF. WE HAVE A BUBBLER SYSTEM BEHIND THE WALLS, BEHIND THE GATES THAT YOU TURN THOSE ON, AND IT ACTUALLY DISPLACES THE DRIFT OR ICE AND MOVES AWAY. SO WHEN YOU MOVE THE GATES BACK INTO RECESS, IT GIVES IT A CLEAR PLACE TO GO. FOR MOST OF THE LAST 30 YEARS, BERG HAS, IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER, BEEN A PART OF THE LOCK AND DAM SYSTEM ON THE OHIO RIVER. AND HE SAYS THIS YEAR IS FAR FROM THE WORST HE’S SEEN, AND NOTHING COMPARED TO 1978, WHEN THE OHIO RIVER, FREEZING OVER, SHUT DOWN THE LOCKING SYSTEM COMPLETELY. BUT, HE ADDS, KEEPING THE LOCK AND DAM CLEAR OF ICE IS VITAL TO THE FLOW OF COMMERCE NATIONWIDE. WE PASS A LOT OF COMMODITIES UP AND DOWN THE RIVER. A LOT OF PEOPLE DON’T REALIZE HOW MUCH ACTUALLY GOES ON THE RIVER. ALL THE TRUCK TRAFFIC THAT’S ON THE ROADS. NOW CONSIDER HOW MUCH MORE WOULD BE THERE IF YOU DIDN’T HAVE THE BARGE TRAFFIC. NOW, WHILE THEY HAVE A PLAN TO DEAL WITH IT, THEY’RE GOING TO HAVE TO STICK WITH THAT A WHILE LONGER. MORE ICE IS HEADED THIS
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After this week’s frigid temperatures, ice has been building up on the Ohio River. No matter the weather, at the McAlpine Locks and Dam, ice left unchecked can wreak havoc on the lock and dam system, according to Operations Manager for the Army Corps of Engineers, Gary Birge.”It gets challenging because you can’t get the gates back into recess,” Birge said. “You get ice buildup on the walls and, of course, the mooring bits.”There are several ways Birge and his team keep the lock clear of ice. One of them is built directly into the lock itself.”We have a bubbler system behind the gates,” Birge said. “You turn those on, and it actually displaces the drift ice and clears it away, so when you put the gates into recess, it gives a clear place for the ice to go.”Birge, who has been part of the lock and dam system — in a different role — for most of the last 30 years, says this year’s ice buildup is far from the worst he has seen. He noted it is nothing compared to 1978, when the Ohio River froze over and the system was temporarily shut down. However, he was quick to point out that many people don’t see firsthand the importance of keeping the dam open, rain, shine, or ice buildup.”We pass a lot of commodities up and down the river,” Birge said. “A lot of people don’t really understand how much goes up and down the river. All the truck traffic is on the roads now — consider what it would be like if you didn’t have barge traffic.”Louisville sits on the Ohio River Corridor, one of the busiest shipping channels in the United States.
After this week’s frigid temperatures, ice has been building up on the Ohio River. No matter the weather, at the McAlpine Locks and Dam, ice left unchecked can wreak havoc on the lock and dam system, according to Operations Manager for the Army Corps of Engineers, Gary Birge.
“It gets challenging because you can’t get the gates back into recess,” Birge said. “You get ice buildup on the walls and, of course, the mooring bits.”
There are several ways Birge and his team keep the lock clear of ice. One of them is built directly into the lock itself.
“We have a bubbler system behind the gates,” Birge said. “You turn those on, and it actually displaces the drift ice and clears it away, so when you put the gates into recess, it gives a clear place for the ice to go.”
Birge, who has been part of the lock and dam system — in a different role — for most of the last 30 years, says this year’s ice buildup is far from the worst he has seen. He noted it is nothing compared to 1978, when the Ohio River froze over and the system was temporarily shut down.
However, he was quick to point out that many people don’t see firsthand the importance of keeping the dam open, rain, shine, or ice buildup.
“We pass a lot of commodities up and down the river,” Birge said. “A lot of people don’t really understand how much goes up and down the river. All the truck traffic is on the roads now — consider what it would be like if you didn’t have barge traffic.”
Louisville sits on the Ohio River Corridor, one of the busiest shipping channels in the United States.
