Many of us enjoy the electric power generated at Chickamauga Dam. Thousands of us cross Chickamauga Dam in our cars. And many of us enjoy the boating, swimming and beauty of Chickamauga Lake. But most of us may not know how important the Chickamauga Lock at the dam is to us all.
Our Chickamauga Lock is one of 14 locks on the 318-mile-long waterway from above Knoxville through Chattanooga on the Tennessee River system that link us to the Mississippi River and connect to the Gulf of Mexico and the oceans of the world.
It has been reported that the Chickamauga Lock serves about 3,000 jobs and $200 million in payrolls.
But, as we have known for some years, the concrete in the 70-year-old lock is deteriorating. It urgently needs to be replaced before a threatened closing.
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander recently told the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works that work needs to start soon so a new Chickamauga Lock can be completed by 2015.
Sen. Alexander said, “It would be unimaginable if we had to close the lock, which is a major transportation artery for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Nuclear Weapons National Security Complex at Oak Ridge and the Tennessee Valley Authority.
“The new lock will hold 6.7 million tons of cargo annually,” Sen. Alexander said. “It will take 100,000 tractor trailers off the road. So, Chickamauga Lock is tremendously important to our region. Finishing it would be a better use of taxpayers’ dollars and it would help create jobs in our country.”
Congress needs to act soon to approve building a new Chickamauga Lock to avoid any obstruction of the movement of water traffic on the important Tennessee River waterway.