Lower Mon Locks, Dams Need Cash

Valley Independent
17 January 2011
By Chris Buckley

If the money would have been fully allocated as planned, the Lower Mon project would have cost roughly $750 million and would have been completed in 12 years.

But seven years after that initial completion date, the project is estimated to cost $1.7 billion - based on the current money stream - and would not be complete until 2032, 40 years after it began.

That's why congressional leaders in western Pennsylvania are urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to step up financial support for the project that involves rehabilitation of Locks and Dam 2 in Braddock and Locks and Dam 4 in Charleroi and the eventual removal of Locks and Dam 3 in Elizabeth. That work includes a new dam at Braddock and two new locks at Charleroi to replace antiquated facilities.

Although the work has been completed at Braddock, much work remains in Charleroi and Elizabeth.

To date, the project has received $522 million, including $64 million American Reinvestment and Recovery Act stimulus money, according to Steve Fritz, Lower Mon project manager.

But until the Inland Waterways Trust Fund is fixed, costs for construction such as the Lower Mon project will keep going up, Fritz said.

Since 1986, companies that use the rivers have paid a federal tax that now amounts to 20 cents on every gallon of diesel fuel used in their operations.

That money goes to the trust fund and is used to pay for modernization and maintenance of the waterways systems. The fund and federal appropriations are supposed to provide equal shares to cover major projects.

But the trust fund is broken, and congressional leaders have been considering ways to repair it.

Fritz said if the Lower Mon project were to be fully supported - with $50 million and $100 million a year depending on work - the project could be completed in 2023.

Currently, the project is being boosted by federal stimulus dollars.

A river wall at Lock Four is about "98 percent complete," Fritz said.

That work should be wrapped up in February or March at a cost of $104 million.

Work on the upper and lower guard walls at Charleroi - also aided with stimulus dollars - is scheduled for completion in September at a cost of $28 million.

"That will give us one wall out of three walls at Charleroi to complete authorized work there," Fritz said. "Our hopes are that with waterways trust fund money available, we would be available to finish one lock at Charleroi, completing the remainder of that river chamber."

One river chamber includes the river wall and guard walls. The cost of that river chamber would be $300 million.

"The way we're building the Charleroi locks is like building your house one wall at a time," Fritz said. "That's a very inefficient way to do that."

Fritz said project managers report to their superiors all factors at locks and dams 3 and 4 that could put navigation in jeopardy.

That is important because the locks and dams at Elizabeth and North Charleroi are 75 years to 100 years old.

Last week, U.S. Rep. Robert Casey, D-Pa., in a letter to Assistant Secretary of the Army Jo-Ellen Darcy, urged the Army Corps to include funding for locks and dams in southwestern Pennsylvania in its fiscal year 2012 budget.

The Lower Mon project was one of four in southwestern Pennsylvania that Casey highlighted in his letter.

The Lower Mon project is receiving support from other members of the region's congressional delegation.

"Congressman Critz understands how important the Lower Mon locks and dams are to our local transportation infrastructure, and it is a priority of his to see that federal funding continues to be made available for this project," a spokesman for the Johnstown Democrat said.

Locks and Dam 4 are in Critz's district.

U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, said the western Pennsylvania Congressional delegation is sending its own letter describing the value of locks and dams to commerce and jobs.

He said it important to demonstrate to Army leaders in Washington the importance of the waterway navigation system to such industries as coal, steel and energy and "the thousands of jobs that depend upon this, as well as public safety."

Murphy said he is drafting a letter and talking to members of the western Pennsylvania delegation on both sides of the aisle.

"The key question is where we will get the money from," Murphy said.

Murphy said he has spoken to U.S. Rep. John Mica, the newly elected chairman of transportation infrastructure committee, about money. He noted that billions of dollars will be needed for inland waterways projects vital to western Pennsylvania.

Murphy said the two discussed drilling off the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, saying that could generate $3.7 trillion in federal revenue, in part to rebuild locks and dams, highways, and bridges.

"Literally, this can generate 1.5 to 2.5 million jobs next 20 years," Murphy said.