Work Continues at Montgomery
A construction crew working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District excavates manholes and trenches for electric lines that will provide power to a new navigation chamber at the Montgomery Locks and Dam in Monaca, Pennsylvania, Jan. 23, 2024. The excavation is part of the Upper Ohio Navigation Project, a multi-billion-dollar investment to replace locks at Emsworth, Dashields and Montgomery locks and dams. The project will replace the auxiliary chambers, measuring 56 feet wide by 360 feet long, with locks measuring 110 feet wide by 600 feet long. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $857.7 million in funds for construction at the Montgomery facility, expected to support more than 15,000 jobs nationally through the construction period. Transporting commodities on the waterways is four times less expensive than by trucks and 33 percent cheaper than by rail. Between 15 and 20 million tons of cargo travels on the upper Ohio River each year, which includes mainly coal but also coke, petroleum products, raw and finished steel, and aggregates. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District photo by Michel Sauret)