Rivers remain frozen across the region, presenting challenges for navigation. Channel 11 spoke with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who said they’re making sure these locks and dams remain operational through the bitter cold.
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The Pittsburgh district of the Corps of Engineers is responsible for 22 locks and dams in the region, including the John P. Murtha near Charleroi, making sure barge traffic is not disrupted for industry partners. But wintertime in general and icy conditions do pose a greater challenge to crews, according to Alan Nogy, locks and dams branch chief for the Pittsburgh district.
“We cycle chambers hourly. We cycle lock gates hourly. We cycle our dam gates hourly, so nothing can get frozen up,” Nogy said.
Nogy showed us some of the measures being taken to ensure everything runs smoothly this time of year.
“Sometimes we have tows that come in these conditions, and there’s so much ice in the chamber that they won’t fit in to get the gates closed behind them, so we have to do what’s called an ice lockage,” Nogy said. “So the tow boat would have to be backed out, and we would go ahead and lock the ice, push it out of the chamber, and then we would have that tow boat re-enter and do it again.”
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As of Friday morning, Nogy says all 22 locks and dams are operational, but with their number one concern being the cold right now, the safety of crews is paramount.
“When our guys aren’t actively locking a boat, yes, they are doing the best they can to remove the snow, to perform their ice lockages, but they’re also taking into consideration they have to go in and get warmed up,” Nogy said.
As of Friday, the National Weather Service said up to 70 percent of the Monongahela River remains frozen.
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