Ortona Lock - Ortona, Florida, USA
Posted by: 
BoomersOTR
N 26° 47.352 W 081° 18.262
17R E 469745 N 2963123
Waterway lock between Moore Haven and LaBelle, Florida along the Caloosahatchee Canal.
Waymark Code: WMZNVF
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 12/10/2018
Views: 1
When the Okeechobee Waterway/Caloosahatchee Canal was dredged a series of locks and dams were built. This lock was constructed in 1937 for navigation purposes. The lock was built to replace a previous lock built in 1912, that was near the former Caloosahatchee Rapids/Falls, a rock formation creating a quarter mile of rapids which fed the Caloosahatchee.
In the 1930's, the lock was dredged by Captain James B. Cox, who worked on the Hoover Dike, with Robert Pierce as engineer. The first lockmaster was Jack O'Day, then Captain Cox, afterward.
Today the lock is used for navigational purposes and the dam is used for flood control. Visitors can cross the dam to get to the lock and the fishing pier just west of the dam. Ample parking is available with restrooms nearby.
The lock is one of five locks and dams managed by the US Army Corp of Engineers. Located 15.5 miles west of the Moore Haven Lock and Dam, and 27.9 miles east of the Franklin Lock and Dam. The cost of construction was approximately $1.1 million. Nearly 10,000 vessels lock through annually, of these about 96 percent are recreational vessels.
The lock chamber is 50 feet wide x 250 feet long x 12 feet deep. The lift of the lock, normally 7.5 to 8.5 feet. Channel width and depth: 90 feet wide x 8 feet deep. Lock gate type, two sixty degree, 30 foot x 6 1/2 inch structural steel sector gates. Discharge capacity, 8660 cubic feet per second.
Waterway Name: Caloosahatchee Canal
Connected Points:
Moore Haven Lock and Franklin Lock.
Towns of Moore Haven and LaBelle
Type: Lock
Date Opened: 01/01/1937
Elevation Difference (meters): 3.00
Site Status: Operational
Web Site: [Web Link]
Date Closed (if applicable): Not listed
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