Maxwell Locks and Dam ‘are there to stay,’ officials say
Today’s article concludes a seven-part series telling the story of the three different locks and dams that have served the Brownsville area over the past century. This reprinted series by Glenn Tunney originally appeared in the Herald-Standard in August and September 2001. “Maxwell Locks and Dam are there to stay.”
Tom Flynn left no doubt about that when I asked him about the future of the Mon River facility at Maxwell.
“There are no immediate plans for major rehabilitation of the facility at this time,” Flynn continued, “but, as everything gets older, occasional repairs are necessary. After all, it is 37 years old now.”
Today, we conclude our series on the history of this area’s locks and dams. We will hear from Tom Flynn, operations project manager for the Monongahela River for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and from Bob Smith, assistant lockmaster at Maxwell Locks and Dam. Each man will share his insights about the $30 million facility at Maxwell.
Tom Flynn loves the Mon and he loves his job. As operations project manager, Tom is responsible for all operations, maintenance and personnel at the nine locks on the Monongahela River.
“I have worked on the Mon since I was 20 years old,” Tom told me. “Now, I am 51, and I have loved every minute of those 31 years on the Mon.”
Bob Smith is another man who enjoys his days working along the Monongahela River. Bob is assistant lockmaster at Maxwell Locks and Dam, where he and lockmaster Todd W. Rankin lead a staff of 16 employees.
“What is the biggest difference,” I asked Bob, “between the technology that was used at old Locks and Dam No. 5 at Brownsville and that which is used at Maxwell?”
“I would say that the major difference between them,” Bob replied, “is the way that power is supplied to operate the lock gates and the valves. Lock 5 at Brownsville used water power to operate. There were tunnels under the locks that supplied water to drive turbines, which in turn drove hydraulic pumps. Lock 5 even produced its own direct-current electricity for its light plant. At some point, they installed commercial electricity, but the water-driven turbines remained in place until the lock was demolished.”
“So Lock 5 could have been self-sufficient if its source of commercially produced electricity had been cut off?” “That’s right. It needed no outside power to operate.”
“How is that different from Maxwell?”
“Maxwell’s source of energy is Allegheny Power. We have electrically powered hydraulic pumps, and they in turn supply the energy that operates the lock machinery.”
How does the modern Maxwell facility compare in size with its two predecessors at Denbo and Brownsville? The Denbo facility featured a single 50-by-158-foot lock and a 620-foot-long dam made of timber cribs filled with stones.
The Brownsville locks and dam offered two 56- by-360-foot locks and a 555-foot-long concrete dam.
Compare those numbers to the dimensions of Maxwell’s two locks, each of them 84 feet wide and 720 feet long. Maxwell’s 460-foot-long concrete and steel dam consists of five gated sections, each 84 feet wide, that allow the lockmaster to control the depth of the 24-mile-long navigational pool above the dam.
“How does the Maxwell dam help to control flooding in the Brownsville area?” I asked Tom Flynn. “Maxwell dam does not control flooding,” Tom replied emphatically. “It is a flow-control dam, not a flood-control dam. The new dam at Stonewall Jackson, built in 1986, helps control flooding in that area.”
“The system of locks and dams on the Monongahela River is not intended for flood control,” concurred Bob Smith. “We have very little flood-prevention capability. The dams are there to provide a navigable channel for commercial navigation for the entire length of the river from above Fairmont, where the river begins, to the “Point” in Pittsburgh, where the river ends. If not for those locks and dams, the river would be very similar in appearance and depth to the Youghiogheny River.”
I visited the Maxwell facility this past summer and was surprised by the complexity of the works and the number of full-time personnel required to keep it operating. “There are quite a few people working at Maxwell,” I commented.
“There are 16 employees working there,” Tom Flynn replied. “Todd Rankin is the lockmaster, Bob Smith is his assistant. We have three maintenance positions, five shift foremen and six shift operators.” “The maintenance and management crews work Monday through Friday,” added Bob, “but the locks are staffed and operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
“What kind of cargoes most commonly pass through Maxwell locks?”
“Mostly coal,” Bob replied. “About 800,000 tons per month. There is a small amount of gasoline and limestone that passes through.”
Several readers had told me that during World War I and World War II, guards were placed on the Inter-county bridge at Brownsville and on the locks to prevent acts of sabotage. In view of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack (this article was originally published on Oct. 7, 2001)
, I wondered what security precautions had been added at Maxwell and at other locks and dams on the Mon.
“Tom is in charge of security for all of the locks on the river,” Bob said. “The security plans are then implemented by each facility’s lockmaster.”
“We have a security officer in Pittsburgh who directs all phases of our security,” Tom Flynn informed me. “Right now, we are at a high level of security. There is only one level higher. No packages are being accepted for boats as had been previously permitted. Everyone must have ID before being admitted to the area, and all gates are locked, with all lights on.”
“At Maxwell,” Bob Smith added, “we have halted the practice of allowing commercial boat companies to change crews at the facility. The companies are not allowed to put groceries on board at the locks, either. We have also stopped allowing boat crew members to leave the vessel during lockage. As Tom said, we have even stopped accepting packages from family members of the boat crews.”
“I know you had tours of the locks in the past . . .”
“All tours have been halted for the time being.”
The subject turned from security to the future of the Monongahela navigation system. There are nine locks and dams on the Mon. Three of the dams, Opekiska, Hildebrand and Morgantown, are in West Virginia. The other six are in Pennsylvania at Point Marion, Grays Landing, Maxwell, Charleroi, Elizabeth and Braddock. Soon, the number of dams will be reduced by one.
“The focus on the Monongahela River right now,” explained Bob, “is on the lower Mon. The renovation of Lock 2 at Braddock, where a new high-lift dam is being constructed, will permit the elimination of Lock 3 in Elizabeth and the total rehabilitation of Lock 4 in Charleroi.”
The new gated dam at Braddock will replace the old fixed-crest dam near there, and the new facility will be named Braddock Locks and Dam.
The Corps of Engineers is phasing out the practice of numbering the locks, instead assigning a specific name to each facility. That is why the Maxwell Locks and Dam is not called Locks and Dam No. 5.
The new Braddock dam will raise Pool 2 by five feet, allowing the locks and dam at Elizabeth to be removed. At Locks and Dam No. 4, larger chambers will be built and the name will be changed to Charleroi Locks and Dam.
“As for our own facility, there is no major rehabilitation in the works for Maxwell,” Bob concluded, “and there are no long-range plans to replace Maxwell. As Tom said, ‘Maxwell is there to stay.'”
When all of these changes are complete, eight dams, all constructed after World War II, will have replaced the 15 that once existed on the river. The aim of those eight facilities is to maintain a channel depth of at least nine feet as the Monongahela River drops 138 feet in elevation during its descent from Opekiska to Braddock.
Some of those eight locks and dams will be much busier than others. According to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission’s study of the Monongahela navigation system, “The coal trade continues to drive the renovation and construction of the Monongahela River locks and dams in Pennsylvania. Thirty million tons of coal hauled annually on the river constitute the largest and most important commodity on the lower section. The shipping of West Virginia coal, with its higher sulfur content, has declined dramatically, however, leaving the upper Monongahela locks and dams with comparatively little industrial traffic.”
We tend to take the Monongahela River for granted, but its waters are the lifeblood of this region.
It is for that reason that the federal government continues to upgrade, maintain and, in these troubled times, protect the Monongahela’s locks and dams.
We commend the men and women who work at these facilities. They are rendering a service that is vital to the commerce and security of our region and our nation.–
Comments about these articles may be sent to Editor Mark O’Keefe, 8 – 18 E. Church St., Uniontown, PA or e-mailed to mo’keefe@heraldstandard.com.