Melvin Price Locks and Dam
| Melvin Price Locks and Dam | |
|---|---|
| Basic data | |
| Places: |
Alton , Illinois West Alton , Missouri |
| Geographical coordinates: | 38 ° 52 ′ 9 ″ N , 90 ° 9 ′ 13 ″ W. |
| Construction time: | 1978-1989 |
| Weir | |
| Type: | Segment weir |
| Maximum storage height: | 5.80 m |
| Dam length (moving part): | 450.50 m |
| Lock chambers | |
| usable length (1): | 365.80 m |
| usable width (1): | 33.50 m |
| usable length (2): | 182.90 m |
| usable width (2): | 33.50 m |
Melvin Price Locks and Dam ( Melvin Price Lock and Barrage , also called Lock and Dam No. 26 ) is the penultimate of 29 locks on the upper Mississippi and the last before the mouth of the Missouri . Erected between 1978 and 1989 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers , the structure is located between Alton in Madison County in Illinois and West Alton in St. Charles County in Missouri .
The structure is located in the eastern part of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area, known as Metro-East , around the city of St. Louis in neighboring Missouri .
Barrage
The barrage includes a 610 m long stone dam on the Missouri side and a 353.6 m long adjustable part, which consists of a nine-part segment weir .
The water level is nine feet (5.80 m). The purpose of the weir is not primarily to protect against flooding, but to damming the Mississippi for shipping.
lock
The lock consists of two chambers: the 365.8 m long main chamber and the 182.9 m long second lock chamber. The width is 33.5 m each. The lock chambers are not directly next to each other, but are separated from each other by two segments of the weir.
history
The building was named after Charles Melvin Price (1905–1988), a long-time member of the US House of Representatives (1945–1988) from Illinois.
The former Lock and Dam 26 electricity structure, which existed from 1938 to 1990, was located a little further upstream near the former Alton Bridge and the Old Clark Bridge, which has now also been replaced by a new bridge . The new dam is the first to replace a structure erected in the 1930s as part of the expansion to a height of 9 feet (2.70 m).
The National Great Rivers Museum in Alton shows the history of the large rivers that meet here and their use, as well as the history of the old and new dam 26.
Individual evidence
- ^ John A. Weeks III. Retrieved July 19, 2012
Web links
- USAF - Melvin Price Locks and Dam, Alton, Illinois
- Library of Congress - Lock & Dam No. 26th
- USGS - Navigation Pool 26
Coordinates: 38 ° 52 ′ 9 ″ N , 90 ° 9 ′ 13 ″ W.