Aided by a record-high budget this year for inland waterway projects, construction continues by the Army Corps of Engineers on a new and bigger lock at the Chickamauga Dam in Chattanooga.
But future funding toward completing the lock remains uncertain after President Trump proposed cutting out federal funding for such projects next year.
A work plan for fiscal 2020 released Tuesday by the Corps of Engineers allocates $101.7 million to continue work on the replacement of the crumbling existing lock at the Chickamauga Dam, which was built and opened in 1940 by the Tennessee Valley Authority and later taken over by the Corps.
A new 110-by-600-foot lock is being erected beneath the Chickamauga Lock to replace the current, smaller lock and allow tow boats to more efficiently push more and bigger barges through the lock at one time. With adequate funding, the Corps has estimated the new lock could be completed by 2024.
“This is great news for East Tennessee since it will help keep up to 150,000 trucks off I-75 and keep the cost of shipping goods low for manufacturers across the state,” said U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee that funds the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.