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Lock at Nickajack open to public after 14 years

The upstream gates open on the lock Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, at Nickajack Dam to allow passage of a pleasure boat from Lake Nickajack to Lake Guntersville. The lock is the target of updates to reopen it to the public for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001. The upstream gates open on the lock Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, at Nickajack Dam to allow passage of a pleasure boat from Lake Nickajack to Lake Guntersville. The lock is the target of updates to reopen it to the public for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001.

By Ben Benton September 7, 2015 4 min read

NICKAJACK FACTS

March 1964: Construction begins on Nickajack Auxiliary lockDecember 1967: Lock begins operation$82.4 million: Cost of lock and dam construction in 1968 when finalized600 feet: Length of lock110 feet: Width of lock9: Number of large modern barges the lock can lift at once800 feet: Length of foundation for second lock to be completed when the need arises513 feet: The drop in elevation the Tennessee River takes from just above Knoxville to the confluence at the Ohio River24: Hours a day Nickajack Lock operatesSource: Tennessee Valley Authority, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

JASPER, Tenn. – Assistant lock operator David Capshaw has seen some of the most-famed boats in the South pass through the Nickajack Lock on the Tennessee River in Marion County.

The Delta Queen. The Mississippi Queen. The USS LST 325.

But unless they were in a boat, no one in the public has seen the inside of the lock since Sept. 11, 2001, the day terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and plowed a jet airliner into a Pennsylvania field.

Since that day 14 years ago next Friday, no unauthorized visitors have been allowed to stand atop the lock and watch the operation up close. Fences sprang up after 9/11, along with barricades, speed bumps and padlocked steel gates.

Not too welcoming.

Photo Gallery

Lock at Nickajack open to public after 14 years

Lockmaster Paul Weaver and assistant lock operator David Capshaw talk about the history of the Nickajack Lock at the dam of the same name on the Tennessee River. The lock is the target of updates to reopen it to the public for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lock master Paul Weaver and assistant lock operator David Capshaw talk about the history of the Nickajack Lock at the dam of the same name on the Tennessee River. The lock is the target of updates to reopen it to the public for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lock master Paul Weaver chats with Greg and Lisa Batts as they ease their pleasure boat into the Nickajack Lock on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015. The lock is the target of updates to reopen it to the public for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lock master Paul Weaver looks on as Greg and Lisa Batts ease their pleasure boat into the Nickajack Lock on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015. The lock is the target of updates to reopen it to the public for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001.

Greg and Lisa Batts ease their pleasure boat through the Nickajack Lock on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015. The lock is the target of updates to reopen it to the public for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001.

Greg and Lisa Batts ease their pleasure boat out of the Nickajack Lock on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015. The lock is the target of updates to reopen it to the public for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001.

The downstream gates on the lock at Nickajack dam begin to close after Greg and Lisa Batts exited in their pleasure boat on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015. The lock is the target of updates to reopen it to the public for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001.

A close of the gears that operate the gates on the lock at Nickajack Dam in Marion County. The lock is the target of updates to reopen it to the public for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001.

Giant replacement parts for the lock are stocked at the Nickajack Dam. The lock is the target of updates to reopen it to the public for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001.

Nickajack Lock on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015. The lock is the target of updates to reopen it to the public for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001.

A turbine from the long-closed Hales Bar Dam is on display at Nickajack Lock on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015. The Nickajack Lock is the target of updates to reopen it to the public for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001.

A tug boat pushing a small barge emerges from the downstream end of the lock at Nickajack Dam on the Tennessee River in Marion County. The lock is the target of updates to reopen it to the public for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001.

That’s changing now: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials are working to open the lock at Nickajack Dam to the public. The locks at Guntersville and Wheeler dams in Alabama and the Pickwick Dam in Hardin County, Tenn., where the Tennessee River flows north toward the Ohio River, also are being reopened.

The Corps announced plans to reopen the locks in late May, but there’s still work to do before people can use the walkways on top of the lock gates or watch boaters maneuver their crafts up to the sides of the lock while the water level is raised or lowered.

“It was sad,” Capshaw said of the lock’s closure to nonboating visitors. “We developed friendships with a lot of the public that were regulars.”

Capshaw said people who lived in neighborhoods at either end of the dam often walked across the structure to visit the other side or to stroll along the boat ramps and fishing spots on TVA property.

The dam was open to the public around the clock in those more innocent days. Some folks liked visiting in the wee hours.

“You’d see people out here at 2 o’clock in the morning,” Capshaw said, chuckling. “You know, they might be up to no good.”

Capshaw has worked for the Corps of Engineers since 1977. He and lockmaster Paul Weaver, who moved from the lock at the Chickamauga Dam to Nickajack a while back, said the Sept. 11 terror attacks changed everything related to public access at the massive dams on the Tennessee River.

Weaver said modifications are in the works for handrails to bring them up to safety standards, and other safety measures and repairs are needed before people can have full access.

At present, members of the public can drive straight onto the eastern side of the dam and park in a visitors’ parking area. The site includes a few boating exhibits, a turbine from the old Hales Bar Dam and a walkway leading to an observation platform where boats and barges can be seen entering the exiting the lock. The lock’s interior is not visible.

Corps spokesman Lee Roberts said visiting hours are being set for public access.

“At Pickwick, Wheeler and Guntersville locks, the hours will be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. [on] Friday, Saturday, Sunday and federal holidays” when they open Oct. 1, Roberts said. “At Nickajack, the public will have access seven days a week from dawn to dusk.”

The lock at Wilson Dam near Florence, Ala., is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends and federal holidays and has drawn “tremendous interest,” Roberts said.

Weaver said he looks forward to getting the public back at the lock.

“This is a beautiful part of the river,” Weaver said. “For the public to get back in to see it and see what we do is important.”

Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or twitter.com/BenBenton or www.facebook.com/ben.benton1 or 423-757-6569.