Rep. Davis Applauds $17.6M in Recovery Dollars To Repair Chicago Lock

Press Release

Rep. Davis Applauds $17.6M in Recovery Dollars To Repair Chicago Lock

Congressman Danny K. Davis (D-IL07) today applauded the announcement of $17.6M in funding to rebuild the Chicago River Lock. Davis stated, "This has been a priority of my earmark requests for years. The Lock is decades beyond its life expectancy and the replacement of the Lock is a priority for the safety and development of Chicago. The Lock is one of the busiest in the nation and short term fixes to the structure have been expensive. The authorization of these funds will create significant economic activity -- jobs, in the short term as well as addressing one of our most urgent long term infrastructure needs. The project is being paid for with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding"

Chicago is home to many remarkable engineering structures but certainly one of them is the Chicago Lock which reverses the flow of the Chicago River. The current Lock was constructed in 1938 by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. In 1984 responsibility for the Lock was transferred to the Corps of Engineers.

The Lock serves several functions. For the millions who depend on Lake Michigan for drinking water, it protects the water supply. When the Lock leaks, as it does now, polluted water backs up into Lake Michigan. It is a navigation structure which allow ships to enter and exit to Lake Michigan. It is also a flood control structure used when, in the case of a major flood event, the Water Reclamation District directs of Corps to open the gates and allow flood waters to flow into the Lake.

Although the probability of a gate failure is very low the consequences of such a failure would result in the flooding of parts of downtown Chicago with estimated damages in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

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