The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Pittsburgh District has awarded a $770 million contract for the construction of a new lock chamber at the Montgomery Locks and Dam, Monaca, Penn. The contract was awarded to Trumbull-Brayman Construction Corp. and was announced on Dec. 10. The construction is part of the Biden administration's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The project includes building a new 110'x600' primary lock chamber to replace the existing 56'x360' auxiliary lock chamber. According to USACE, this modernization effort addresses the aging infrastructure of the Montgomery Locks, which were constructed nearly a century ago and are at increasing risk of failure.
Construction activities are scheduled to begin in spring 2025 with the removal of the existing auxiliary lock chamber. River traffic will continue to use the current primary lock chamber during the construction period. Once completed, the new chamber will address the industry's need for larger infrastructure capable of handling modern commercial barges.
The Montgomery Locks facilitate the movement of 12 million tons of goods annually. A failure of the locks could cause severe disruptions, including an estimated $180 million economic impact from a one-year closure, the statement said. To mitigate such risks, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated over $1 billion to the Upper Ohio Navigation Project, which encompasses the modernization of locks at Montgomery, Dashields, and Emsworth.
The modernization effort is also expected to bring significant employment benefits. The Corps estimates that the construction of the new Montgomery lock chamber alone will support over 13,000 jobs, while the broader Upper Ohio Navigation Project is expected to create more than 28,000 jobs during construction and 5,300 jobs annually upon completion.
In compliance with Executive Order 14063, the Montgomery project includes a Project Labor Agreement (PLA), ensuring the use of union labor.
The USACE statement noted the Montgomery Locks and Dam project represents the largest Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-funded initiative in Pennsylvania.
