Shimmick has been awarded a $117 million contract modification to help the U.S. Army restore the LaGrange Lock and Dam system in Versailles, Ill.
Located an hour and a half north of St. Louis near the western edge of Illinois, LaGrange is the first lock and dam up the Illinois River from the confluence of the Mississippi River. Shimmick will rehabilitate the lock structure at the LaGrange Lock and Dam. The current structure consists of a single 110-foot-wide by 600-foot-long lock with two miter gates and four tainter valves.
For 70 years, the lock has been exposed to multiple freeze/thaw cycles and flooding, causing a gradual but a degradation of the lock components. Shimmick is replacing the lock and dam machinery, miter gate machinery, and valve machinery for filling and emptying the lock. The team must also upgrade the control systems and concrete walls. The miter gate repairs involve using rotary actuators, which is the first time USACE has used them in deep water. These actuators are typically used by the military in submarines.
Major work includes dewatering and refacing the lock chamber, as well as constructing and installing mechanical equipment protection structures, cutting in new hydraulic piping trenches and resurfacing the horizontal surfaces. The lock serves a consortium of shippers along this waterway. It helps keep the river conditions in low water, so river traffic like the barges of goods and natural resources can travel up and down the river.
The project will be completed in late 2021.