The following information comes from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Huntington District webpage on the locks and dam (
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McAlpine Locks and Dam is located in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. The dam is at mile 604.4 of the Ohio River and the locks are in the Louisville and Portland Canal on the Kentucky side of the river. The 56’ x 600’ auxiliary lock was completed in 1921 and the 110’ x 1200’ main chamber was opened in 1961. There is also an inactive 56’ x 360’ lock chamber. In 1960, the project was renamed from Lock and Dam 41 in honor of a former Louisville District Engineer.
Construction began at McAlpine in 1996 on a new 110’ x 1200’ lock, which will replace the active 110’ x 600’ auxiliary and an inactive auxiliary lock. Innovations associated with this project include roller compacted concrete walls, wrap around filling and emptying system with in-chamber culverts, a shortened guide wall and reduced cofferdam length. Construction began in 1996 and is scheduled for completion in 2008.
During construction, the McAlpine project is reduced to a single chamber project because the new 1200’ lock is being constructed in the foot-print of the auxiliary 600’ chamber.
According to the Corps of Engineers Waterborne Commerce Statistics for 2005, almost 57 million tons of commodities were shipped through McAlpine Locks. These shipments had a combined value of $11.7 billion. The leading commodity shipped through McAlpine Locks was coal, which made up 36% of the total tonnage.
The state that shipped the most tonnage through McAlpine Locks was Louisiana, with just over 17.1 million tons worth $3.6 billion. Iron, steel, ores and chemicals made up over 13.7 million tons of this amount. Kentucky, was next, shipping 11.3 million tons of mostly coal.
Kentucky received the most tonnage (13.8 million tons) moving through McAlpine Locks. Ohio was next, moving 12.5 million tons. See map for a graphical representation of state tonnage movements through McAlpine Locks.
Louisiana’s 3rd Congressional District was the leading shipper of commodities through McAlpine Locks. This district shipped 14.3 million tons of ores, iron, steel and chemicals, with a combined value of nearly $2.5 billion. Kentucky District 4 was next, with 5.5 million tons. See map for the top 10 Congressional Districts shipping tonnage through McAlpine Locks.
The leading Congressional District in receipts of McAlpine Locks commodities was also Kentucky District 4, which received over 9.2 million tons. This tonnage was mostly Iron/steel and coal, and had a combined value of $1.4 billion. Indiana District 9 received 6.3 million tons of goods with a value of $540 million. See map for the top ten Congressional Districts receiving McAlpine Locks tonnage.
The short description and following information comes from the American Society of Civil Engineers Designated Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks (
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The original locks and their successors improved the transportation of people and goods towards St. Louis, New Orleans and points west and played an important role in the settlement and growth of the nation.