A reopened lock on the Mon shows improving infrastructure and ongoing reliance on industry

After 21 years of work, Pittsburgh-area river transportation got an important boost last week from the reopening of the newly named John P. Murtha Locks & Dam. Previously known as the Monongahela River Locks & Dam 4, the gated dam and its two 720-foot locks will allow smoother transit for watercraft heading up and down the Mon. The Army Corps of Engineers is also in the process of demolishing the dam near Elizabeth a few miles downstream.

Col. Nick Melin, the Corps’ Pittsburgh District commander, thanked the hundreds of workers involved in planning and opening the improved facility, which he said “is now the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ newest and most modern lock chamber.” The dam was originally built in 1931 and converted to a movable gate configuration in the ’60s.

The latest project “involved 14 separate contracts, 250,000 cubic yards of concrete, which were pumped over the river from the batch plant, which is on the other side; 13 million pounds of reinforced steel, likely produced here in western Pennsylvania; and the removal of over 1.1 million cubic yards of soil,” Melin told assembled members of the media and local dignitaries at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new second lock. “It's about securing the future of the Monongahela River as a crucial inland navigation transportation route,” Melin added.

Pa. Lt. Gov. Austin Davis also spoke, noting that the Corps has more local projects in the offing throughout the Pittsburgh District’s 26,000 square miles.

“Many folks don't know the vital role that our rivers provide to the nation's economy,” Davis, a McKeesport native, told onlookers. “The Pittsburgh District operates 23 locks and dams on the Ohio, Monongahela, and Allegheny Rivers. That network of locks and dams saves shippers and consumers $4 billion … on transportation costs compared to road and rail. Just this project alone will provide $200 million in annual benefits to our region and nation.”

Davis and Melin both also spoke to the long career and many accomplishments of the late Rep. Murtha, whose son was likewise in attendance. Murtha, who represented Western Pa. for over 30 years in Congress, has also had a Navy ship named in his honor.

Melin, Davis, and former U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, who now chairs the Port of Pittsburgh Commission, lined up atop the new lock miter gates as the Cambell Transportation barge Georgetown waited for the lock’s ceremonial first transit downriver.

Much of the river traffic in the area continues to be related to the local steel industry — Pittsburgh City Paper asked Melin and the facility’s lock master, Keith Millstine, about who would use the locks and the total traffic they received, and both estimated that a majority of traffic is related to steel.

“It’s kind of hit or miss with traffic right now,” Millstine said. The lock sees “at least six to eight boats on day shift.” He estimated the lock would likely see around 16 to 20 boats per day on average — but this figure fluctuates considerably during the summer recreation season.

“You go down to the Point of PIttsburgh on any given Friday or Saturday and Sunday, half or more of that traffic has come through our locks and dams,” Melin told City Paper.

What happens with the areas locks and dams in the long term could come down to both the level of usage and the future of the steel industry. While the Elizabeth dam is demolished, the Braddock Dam, located directly adjacent to U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson Works, could eventually also be converted to a gated dam rather than a fixed-crest dam, though that could take another 20 years.

In the meantime, the navigation industry — especially companies such as Campbell who make a large portion of their money serving heavy industry — will have an easier time steaming past Monessen and Charleroi, which straddle the critical piece of infrastructure. The area’s economic woes are no secret, but metallurgy, extraction, and the chemical industry remain important local employers.

Davis hailed the Murtha Locks & Dam as a reflection of the late Representative’s commitment to the region and to the Commonwealth’s can-do spirit when it comes to recent infrastructure projects.

​​“We got I-95 fixed in two weeks. We repaired the Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh in record time,” Davis said, “and we'll keep investing in our infrastructure so people like my daughter Harper and all of our children and grandchildren will benefit for decades to come.”