U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Soo Locks Webcam, August 3, 2015
As seen on the Soo Locks webcam, the MacArthur Lock has been dewatered so the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can make emergency repairs.
One of the Soo Locks has been temporarily closed and dewatered to repair a malfunctioning set of gates.
The MacArthur Lock could be closed for more than 10 days.
"The miter gates weren't coming together correctly," says Kevin Sprague from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, "which is a potential serious issue for us. We dewatered over the weekend and we're preparing to do some work to get back into service."
They'll start by replacing the gate anchorages, which wore out much faster than they should have. Discovering why that happened is another task for the team.
All vessel traffic has been rerouted through the larger Poe Lock. Delays are expected, but "so far we're not seeing a big lineup," Kevin says.
The MacArthur Lock is equipped with a double set of gates on each end. The Corps had already been working on a complete electrical overhaul of the primary set when the rarely used intermediate gates failed.