Army Corps of Engineers Invests in Mon River

Morgantown Dominion Post
20 September 2009

PITTSBURGH — The US Army Corps of Engineers recently awarded a $28.4 million contract funded by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to continue critical work at the Monongahela River Locks and Dam 4, at Charleroi, Pa.

C.J. Mahan Construction Co. LLC, will execute the work, which includes building the 800-foot-long upper and 600-foot-long lower guard walls and cells as part of the overall Lower Monongahela River Project.

On completing the Charleroi river chamber, the guard walls will act to protect vessels from being pulled into the dam’s current while approaching the lock.

This is the largest dose of recovery dollars the Pittsburgh District has shot into the regional economy.

The Recovery-Act funded work at Charleroi has a 2011 completion date.

The completion date for the overall Lower Monongahela River Project remains in question due to funding shortages with the federal government’s cost-share partner, the Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF).

The IWTF provides 50 percent of the funding for construction and major rehabilitation projects on the nation’s inland navigation system. Currently, it does not generate the revenue needed to keep up with the nation’s aging and deteriorating lock and dam infrastructure.

The Pittsburgh District maintains and operates 23 navigation facilities on the Monongahela, Ohio and Allegheny rivers — the largest, oldest and most fatigued navigation system in the nation, and 16 flood damage reduction reservoirs in five states.

The first batch of Recovery Act funds for Charleroi added $17.4 million to complete the ongoing river wall contract, which is now about 87 percent complete. When funding permits, the new larger locks will replace the existing unreliable locks and provide reliable navigation for the next 50 years.