Allegheny River lock reopens after $6.6M fix

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday reopened the Allegheny River’s Lock 2, which has been closed most days for three months because of a $6.6 million renovation project.

The land wall in the 87-year-old lock chamber near the Highland Park Bridge had been deteriorating for years at what is the busiest lock for recreational boaters in the Pittsburgh area.

While recreational boaters weren’t thrilled with the closure in August, the timing was worked out with businesses using the river for commercial traffic.

“We worked hard with industry ahead of time for when the scheduled closure occurred to avoid a back-up at the queue when the lock reopened,” said Corps spokesman John Kelly.

Industry provides funding for the operation of locks and dams, which were constructed on the Allegheny to provide slack water for reliable transportation for industry.

“We are thrilled that we are creating a long term safe solution for the thousands of vessels who transit this facility every year,” said Col. Andrew “Coby” Short of the Corps’ Pittsburgh district.

The Pittsburgh district’s 26,000 square miles include portions of southwestern New York, western Maryland, northern West Virginia, Western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. That large area includes more than 328 miles of navigable waterways, 23 navigation locks and dams, 16 multi-purpose flood control reservoirs and 42 local flood-protection projects.