OHIO RIVER

For the actual construction of locks and dams and the operation and care of the completed structures the river is divided into three sections under the immediate supervision and direction of district engineers at Pittsburgh, Huntington, and Louisville.

The Pittsburgh section extends from the head of the river at Pittsburgh, Pa., to a point between Captina Island and Powhatan Point, a distance of 109 miles, and includes Emsworth, Dashields, and Montgomery locks and dams and locks and dams 7 to 13, inclusive; the Huntington section extends from mile 109 to mile 409.3, immediately downstream from Aberdeen, Ohio, a distance of 300.3 miles, and includes locks and dams 14 to 23, inclusive, Gallipolis locks and dams, and locks and dams 27 to 33, inclusive; the Louisville section extends from mile 409.3, immediately downstream from Aberdeen, Ohio to the mouth of the river, a distance of 571.7 miles, and includes locks and dams 34 to 39, inclusive, locks and dam 41 (with the Louisville and Portland Canal) and locks and dams 43 to 53 inclusive.

District engineers: At Pittsburgh, Pa., Col. F. H. Falkner, Corps of Engineers, through November 1, 1948, Col. A. M. Neilson, Corps of Engineers, acting district engineer, November 2, 1948 through January 2, 1949, and Col. F. H. Falkner, Corps of Engineers, since that date; Huntington, W. Va., Col. A. M. Neilson, Corps of Engineers; Louisville, Ky., Col. B. B. Talley, Corps of Engineers, through July 27, 1948, and Col. J. L. Person, Corps of Engineers, since that date.

Division engineer of the Ohio River Division, Cincinnati, Ohio, comprising the Nashville, Tenn., Louisville, Ky., Huntington, West Va., and Pittsburgh, Pa. Districts: Col. Á. M. Neilson, Corps of Engineers, acting division engineer through July 14, 1948, and Maj. Gen. J. C. Mehaffey, U. S. Army, division engineer since that date.

IMPROVEMENTS

Navigation

1. Construction of locks and dams, Ohio River 2. Open-channel work, Ohio River

Page

1637

1645

NOTE.-Tributary navigation projects and all flood-control projects in the Ohio River Basin are contained in the reports of the districts included in the Ohio River Division.

1. CONSTRUCTION OF LOCKS AND DAMS ON THE OHIO RIVER Location. The Ohio River is formed by the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers at Pittsburgh, Pa., and flows in a general southwesterly direction for a distance of 981 miles

872132-50-19

to join the Mississippi River near Cairo, Ill. For description of the river see page 1227, Annual Report for 1932.

Previous projects.-The first lock and dam on the Ohio River was provided for by River and Harbor Act of March 3, 1879. The construction of dams was provided for by river and harbor acts, as follows: Dam 6, September 19, 1890; dams 2, 3, 4, and 5, June 3, 1896; 13 and 18, March 3, 1899; 8, 11, 19, and 37, June 13, 1902; 26, March 2, 1907. For further details see page 1907 of Annual Report for 1915. For expenditures on the previous 6-foot canalization see paragraph "Condition at end of fiscal year" of this report.

Existing project.-This provides for the improvement of the entire river by the construction of locks and dams to provide a channel depth of 9 feet and for the widening of the Louisville and Portland Canal at Louisville, Ky. The project provides for a lock with usable dimensions of 110 by 600 feet at each dam and in addition an auxiliary lock 56 by 360 feet at Emsworth, Dashields, Montgomery, and dam 41 and 110 by 360 feet at Gallipolis. Dashields is a fixed dam, while Emsworth, Montgomery, and Gallipolis are fixed dams with movable crests. The remainder of the 46 dams are of the movable type, with navigable pass varying in width from 600 to 1,248 feet. In addition to the navigable pass, the movable type dams are also provided with one or more regulating weirs. At dam 41 a canal (Louisville and Portland) extends along the left bank for a distance of 2 miles, with the locks at the lower end.

Operation and care of the locks and dams were included in the project July 1, 1935, under the provisions of the Permanent Appropriations Repeal Act approved June 26, 1934.

The estimate of cost of new work revised in 1949, including expenditures on previous projects prior to adoption of the 9-foot project in 1910, but exclusive of the Gallipolis locks and dam reported under the Kanawha River project, is $167,357,000, including cost of old structures which have been replaced.

The estimate of annual cost of operations and care of locks and dams, made in 1949, is $7,013,000.

The existing project was authorized by the following river and harbor acts:

Acts

June 25, 1910

July 18, 1918

Work authorized

Construction of 54 locks with movable dams, widen-
ing of the Louisville and Portland Canal to 170 feet,
and a new lock at the lower end. The act also
granted discretionary authority to the Secretary of
War to make such modifications in the project as
appeared advisable.

Elimination of locks and dams in the lower river
where the project depth of 9 feet could be satis-
factorily maintained by open channel work. Secre-
tary of War authorized to substitute fixed dams
for movable dams wherever, in his opinion, they
may be advisable.

Documents

H. Doc. 492, 60th Cong., 1st sess.

H. Doc. 1695, 64th Cong., 2d sess.

Under the authority granted in the River and Harbor Act of June 25, 1910, the Louisville and Portland Canal has been widened to 200 feet; locks and dams 40 and 42 have been eliminated; locks

and dams 1 and 2 replaced by the Emsworth locks and dam; lock and dam 3 replaced by the Dashields locks and dam; and locks and dams 4, 5, and 6 replaced by the Montgomery locks and dam. Locks and dams 24, 25, and 26 were replaced by Gallipolis locks and dams which was authorized by the act of August 30, 1935, and constructed under the project for improving lower Kanawha River.

Table A contains data relative to the various features of the locks and dams included in the existing project. Table B lists the principal towns and cities along the Ohio River with their mileage below Pittsburgh, Pa.

1 Depths as shown are on emergency-dam foundation and are controlling depths.

2 Change from fixed dam to lift-gate dam completed in 1938. Replaces movable dams

Necessity for construction has not yet been determined.

10 Exclusive of $6,615,748.60; details below: