Nashville District Commander Lt. Col. James A. DeLapp, left, and deputy for project management Mike WIlson explain to U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann what some of the crucial repairs that need to be completed are as existing lock project manager Doug Delong, right, listens in during a tour of the dewatered Chickamauga Lock during work in 2012.U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann says he is working so hard to get funding for a new Chickamauga lock that the project is becoming known as the “Chuck” lock.
The Chattanooga Republican congressman pledged Thursday to work to gain at least $6.9 million in funding in the next year to reactivate work on the stalled $680 million project, which is designed to replace the aging, 75-year-old existing lock at the Chickamauga Dam.
In the White House budget plans, the Army Corps of Engineers didn’t include any money to restart the replacement lock in either the fiscal 2015 or fiscal 2016 budgets. Work on the lock stalled three years ago when funding ran out for the project.
Fleischmann told the Chattanooga Rotary Club he will work in his role on the House Appropriations Committee to get more money for the lock being built in Chattanooga by the Corps.
“The Chickamauga lock, affectionately known by many at the corps as the ‘Chick lock,’ is now being referred to all over the United States as the ‘Chuck” lock,’ Fleischmann quipped.