Work on the delayed new lock at the Chickamauga Dam in Chattanooga got a $29.9 million boost Tuesday when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced its plans for using the extra money provided this year by Congress and a higher fuel barge tax for inland waterway projects.
But keeping the funding next year to sustain work on the new $858 million lock in Chattanooga will require Congress to again boost spending above what the Obama administration is recommending in the 2017 fiscal budget released Tuesday.
While the new Chickamauga lock is due its highest funding support in five years this year, the president's budget for next year released by the White House Tuesday doesn't provide any additional funding for the project. The Obama budget blueprint calls for a $1.37 billion reduction the Army Corps of Engineers' Civil Works program, which is not enough to support dam and lock projects on the Tennessee River.
Michael J. Toohey, president and CEO of the Waterways Council Inc., said the 29.8 percent cut for inland waterway projects by the Obama administration "is the most disappointing budget to date" and will again require Congress to rescue key projects to keep river transportation flowing in the future.
"We continue to rely on 1930s infrastructure which is beyond its design life for which we continue to see more unplanned outages to move our nation's vital commodities," Toohey said. "Fortunately, Congress understands the importance of our inland waterway system and has consistently demonstrated its understanding of the importance of infrastructure investment."
Indeed, in the current year, congressional action boosted spending for the Inland Waterways Trust Fund to allow for the restoration of funding for work on both the Chickamauga and Kentucky lock projects on the Tennessee River.
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the chairman of a key Senate committee that helps fund the Army Corps of Engineers, said Tuesday the 2016 budget adds to the modest $3.1 million provided last year for the Chickamauga lock after three years of no funding at all for the project.
The Corps used the funds last year to award a contract for Rembco Geotechnical Contractors for coffer dam stabilization and will use the $29.9 million allocated this year to begin lock excavation, install anchors and construct a retaining wall.
The new and bigger lock will replace the aging and crumbling existing lock that suffers from "concrete growth" in the rock aggregate used during its construction in the 1930s.
"This funding will be enough to continue construction of the new Chickamauga lock for the second consecutive year, which 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 Oak Ridge, Y-12, and manufacturers across the state," Alexander said.
Next year, the Obama administration's civil works budget for the Corps of Engineers puts more money and emphasis on eco-system improvements, including restoring and maintaining the Florida everglades, rather than increased funding for river transportation upgrades.
Jo-Ellen Darcy, assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, said the $4.6 billion spending plan for civil works "supports the core mission areas of coastal and inland navigation, reducing flood and storm risks, and restoring aquatic ecosystems.
"The Budget enables the Corps to responsibly carry out its important missions, while advancing key Administration initiatives to increase renewable energy production, reduce greenhouse gas impacts, combat invasive species, and increase community resilience in the wake of natural disasters," said Darcy.
But Alexander pledged to work to maintain funding in fiscal 2017 for construction of the new Chickamauga lock.
"The final appropriations bill Congress passed last year is drastically different than the president's budget, and the same will be true for this year," he said.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.