Crews break ground on Montgomery Locks and Dam project

BEAVER COUNTY, Pa. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District broke ground Friday on the biggest infrastructure project in Pennsylvania. It’s the construction of a new, larger lock chamber at the Montgomery Locks and Dam.

Local, state and federal leaders attended the groundbreaking ceremony, for a near billion-dollar project expected to create more than 28,000 construction jobs and 5,300 jobs annually after completion in Beaver County.

U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) joined Senior Advisor to President Biden and White House Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator Mitch Landrieu and members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Pittsburgh District.

Col. Nicholas Melin, Commander and District Engineer, USACE, Pittsburgh District, told the crowd he’s been in this role for exactly one week. He said

“Enabling navigation on our rivers is his district’s oldest and most enduring mission,” Melin said.

The dam has been granting access to rivers since 1866 and was initially built with wood.

“New chambers will modernize a system that annual passes 15-20 million tons of bulk goods through the Upper Ohio River,” Col. Melin said.

The project also includes building a facility to produce concrete. They will need 4000 cubic yards.

“That’s the equivalent of a concrete block that is the size of a football field. That’s huge, that’s big-time engineering.” Col Melin said.

Jaime Pinkham, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, joked with the crowd while noise from equipment could be heard in the background.

“I really appreciate hearing noise in the background. That’s symbolic that this bill is actually delivering jobs on the ground,” Pinkham said.

According to the Port of Pittsburgh Commission, this project is essential. They tell Channel 11 if the system were to go down, it would bring the entire region’s commerce to a standstill. Without the near billion-dollar project, the locks and dam have a 50% chance of failure by 2018.

“We cannot allow this system to fail; too many lives, too many jobs, and too many opportunities depend upon the investment we are making,” Senator Casey said.

At $857 million in new funding, this is not only Pennsylvania’s largest investment from the infrastructure law to date, but one of the largest allocations for any one infrastructure project in the entire country—second only to the Everglades. Combined with the IIJA allocation for the nearby Emsworth Locks and Dam, the Upper Ohio Navigation System received $934.7 million in total from the law. That does not include the $12.8 million FY22 appropriation Senator Casey helped to secure for the system.

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