Bayou Plaquemine Lock - Plaquemine, LA - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

Now a local park and recreation area. The Lockhouse houses a museum, with some of the original pumping systems still inside. There is LOADS of history to be found on the internet, but I take a brief complete history that I found here .
The historical Plaquemine Locks are located in Plaquemine, Louisiana about 10-12 miles South-west of Baton Rouge, Louisiana on the far side of the Mississippi River. I had never really thought much about the Locks or how they were once used every day in the past years, and didn't have a clue how they once worked until we visited the Plaquemine Locks. That visit got me interested in this magnificent piece of art and I was curious to know more! In 1895 construction of the Plaquemine Locks began after many delays. Several years later they finally finished the project in 1909. The Plaquemine Locks were designed by Colonel George W. Goethals, who eventually became the Chief Engineer and Chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission. He also designed and constructed the Panama Canal. Plaquemine Locks were needed to join Bayou Plaquemine with the Mississippi River, thus creating an "avenue" for local industry and trade to deliver their "goods" on a major waterway--The Mississippi River. The majority of all water traffic made its way through the Plaquemine Locks to access major ports along the Mississippi River during the early 1900's. The Locks had the highest fresh-water lift of any lock in the world at the time it was completed in 1909. It was modernized to keep up with the heavy demand of traffic in the late 1940's by installing hydraulic pumps.

Waterway Name: Bayou Plaquemine Connected Points: Linked the Bayou Plaquemine to the Mississippi River . Type: Lock Date Opened: 01/01/1909 Date Closed (if applicable): 01/01/1954 Elevation Difference (meters): 2.00 Site Status: Inactive Web Site: [Web Link]

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