New hoists at Crooked Creek Lake offer flood protection for the next 75 years
Brent Kelly, a maintenance mechanic, stands above the old hoist and assists the team in placing a block before removing the old gate hoist from Crooked Creek Dam’s control tower in Ford City, Pennsylvania, Feb. 14, 2023. BCI Construction installed four new hoists – each weighing 38,000 pounds apiece and control the dam’s gates – at Crooked Creek Lake to modernize the facility’s machinery and improve usage. The new hoists make the machinery safer and more efficient to use, with digital displays that are more accurate and easier to read. The original hoists were in operation since the dam was built in 1938. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo by Andrew Byrne)