Tower US Army Corps of Engineers Rock Island District Tim VOL. 5, NO.8, January 1984 A review of the District in 1983 1983 is now history and we move into the gate sill, and providing new armor at the sinkers of every description, as well as the usual year made famous by George Orwell, 1984. As ladders, floating mooring bitts, and at the upper spherical "reservior eggs," the result of rocks we move into the new year looking forward to and lower gate bays. The remaining stages will tumbling in the basin's "grinding mill." Not the challenges to come, it is also fitting that we include resurfacing of the lower guidewall and many of the items were in a usable condition, take a moment to look back at the challenges backside of the riverside lockwall, ·replacement but the "eggs" make great conversation pieces. and accomplishments of the Rock Island Dis­ of the upper lift gate machinery, and stabiliza­ As a prelude to the District inheriting por­ trict in 1983. tion of the lockwalls. tions of the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal, a As such, the following pages are devoted to a The rehabilitation at Brandon Road will cost preliminary investigation was conducted of the review of the District's activities in 1983. approximately 17.5 million dollars and will be approach dike to the MSD hydropower plant Without further fanfare we present: the Rock completed in three stages. The first stage, sche­ at Lockport. Geotechnical Branch was assigned Island District in 1983. duled for award in January 1984, will include the job to install weirs and to measure seepage resurfacing the entire lock chamber, resurfacing flows. The level of the canal was lowered and of the upper guidewall, resurfacing and stabili­ raised in an attempt to determine the source of Engineering activities zation of the lower guidewall, rehabilitation of the water. Electric conductivity was also tried diverse.. in 1983 the lock gates, and replacement of the lock in an effort to learn if water was seeping over electrical system. The second stage of work will or through or under an old buried concrete In 1983, Engineering Division continued to include replacement of the miter gate machin­ wall. improve the use and management of its resour­ ery, and the final stage will include rehabilita­ During the summer of 1983 the Des Moines ces in support of its mission. Fred Ciaccio con­ tion of the dam. River reservoirs remained at high levels for 3 verted the majority of Engineering Division's The first stages at Lockport and Brandon months. Since this was the first significant event manual resource management program into an Road Locks will require a complete lock clo­ for several years, Red Rock and Geotechnical automated system in Calendar Year 1983. This sure. This will be accomplished simultaneously Branch personnel obtained observation well conversion to automation has resulted in a between 5 July 1984 and 8 September 1984. temperature and weir data and samples for highly efficient, cost effective, and accurate data The remaining stages of work will be accomp­ mineral tests for a continuing seepage study. An management system providing meaningful in­ lished under traffic. The completion of the analysis and report are to be completed for Red formation in support of decision making pro­ Lockport Lock Major Rehabilitation is sche­ Rock Dam over the winter. cesses. duled for June 1985. The completion of the Two rock jobs are contracted to be under­ The year 1983 has been significant for the Brandon Road Lock and Dam Major Rehabili­ way next year. Riprap for Red Rock Dam Design Branch, especially in the Jobs Bill Pro­ tation is scheduled for December 1986. involves a quarry near Hannibal, Missouri, in gram, the Military Support Program, and the During 1983, the Geotechnical Branch was the lower end of the District. Rockfill for Ack­ Major Rehabilitation Program for the Lockport involved in some unusual subsurface explora­ erman's Cut will come from the Bellevue, Iowa, Lock and Brandon Road Lock and Dam, loca­ tory work which turned up some interesting area. Geotechnical Branch geologists have been ted on the lllinois Waterway. These locks were artifacts. At the request of Planning Division, and will be providing assistance to Construc­ built in 1933 and are in an advanced state of several test pits were excavated in the Mark tion Division for these two projects. deterioration. The Major Rehabilitation Pro­ Twain Historical District of Hannibal, Mis­ Also coming up will be two rehabilitation gram is vital to the preservation of the useful­ souri. The study was conducted as part of pre­ jobs on the lllinois Waterway. Geotechnical ness, integrity, and safety of these structures in liminary planning for the proposed Hannibal Branch and Design Branch personnel are plan­ order to maintain reliable navigation along our Local Flood Protection project. Some of the ning to work with area engineer representatives waterways. rubble found in the pits are believed to be rem­ on the tiedown and renovation of the Lockport The rehabilitation at Lockport will cost nants of the early river settlements. and Brandon Road Locks. approximately 20.2 million dollars and will be Artifacts of a more recent vintage were recov­ At the time the final land acquisition was completed in four stages. The first stage, awar­ ered by Operations Division divers during the being obtained for the Fulton, Illinois, project ded in September 1983, consists of replacing underwater inspection of the Coralville Dam Mississippi River Levee, possible movement of the lower miter gates and machinery, modify­ stilling basin. These included assorted tools, ing the upper lift gates, stabilizing the upper spark plugs, window weights, fish hooks, and Engineering (Cont. page 2) Engineering (Cont.) the Lyons Bridge foundation was questioned Our Survey Branch was distinguished in studies were conducted during the contract because of the closeness and weight of the levee 1983 by the selection of its Chief, Bill Riebe, studies. embankment to the piers. A wall was substi­ for a Development Assignment at the Office of The Water Quality Section cooperated with tuted for an embankment, but sandfill was the Chief of Engineers, where he developed Operations Division in petitioning the Illinois required for a foundation. The specifications standardized Surveying manuals, and was des­ Environmental Protection Agency for a var­ required precise level measurements for the ignated as an instructor for Corps-wide training iance from the normal permitting process re­ four piers. During construction, instrumentation for surveyors at Huntsville. quired for dredging on the Illinois Waterway. information was obtained by the contractor and For Hydraulics Branch, CY 1983 was a year The section also assisted USEPA in investiga­ furnished interested persons by the area engi­ of intensive workload ranging from the devel­ tion of pollution inputs to Pool 15 and deve­ neer. Geotechnical Branch was responsible for opment of H&H appendices for many projects loped a monitoring program to answer addi­ the analysis and monitoring of data. Plots to the installation of the satellite downlink sys­ tional questions raised by initial sampling effort. showed no movement of the bridges, but set­ tem at Rock Island District. H&H appendices Three Dam Break Studies were completed in tlement in the levee foundation. The bridge were completed for large projects such as 1983. They included Virden Creek, Page Park, piers were on deep piles into sand and not Moline and Davenport and for several small and Saylorville Lake. affected. projects such as Pontiac, Waverly, Fox River in Several recon studies for Section 205, 208, Since the development of the Survey Branch Wisconsin, etc. Hydropower Hydraulic Studies and 14 were completed as part of ongoing sup­ approximately 50 years ago, Bonnie Norton is were completed for Marseilles on the Illinois port to the Planning Division. Section 22 Stu­ the first full-time female employee. Bonnie, a River and for Locks and Dams 13, 18, and 22 dies were initiated at Bloomington, Illinois, and Cartographic Technician in Survey Branch, on the Mississippi River. Flood Insurance Stu­ Skunk River Basin, Iowa. Hydraulics inputs came to the District in November of 1982. dies at Galesburg, North Utica, Grundy Coun­ were given for Design Branch projects at Bet­ Prior to coming to the District Office, she was ty, La Salle, and Peru, Illinois, were also com­ tendorf, Iowa, East Moline, Fulton, Milan, employed as an Engineering Technician for the pleted this year. Rockford, Waterloo, and Brandon Road. Engineering Section in the Joliet Field Office. Besides the on-going regulation activities, the Hydraulics Branch personnel also assisted in · Bonnie began her career with the Corps of Regulation Section revised the Master Plan for several training courses, mobilization studies, Engineers in 1966 as the only draftsman in the the Water Control Management to include data and a Wilmington District lawsuit. Engineering Section of the Operations Division collection via satellite. The Saylorville Lake at the Joliet Project Office. She became an Regulation Manual was updated to include the MEN-WOMEN Engineering Technician in 1970 and was certi­ revised plan due to the water supply contract fied in 1974. with the State of Iowa. Intensive alternative Part of what you earn is pride. Mississippi cargo up 9 million tons Mississippi River cargo shipments in the month was Lock 19, Keokuk, IA, with Rock Island District of the U.S. Army Corps of 4,787,250 tons of cargo. Engineers during the first 11 months of 1983 are up nine million tons from the same period in 1982. A total of 41,504,675 tons of cargo was reported from January through November 1983, compared to 32,594,918 tons during the Illinois Waterway cargo same period in 1982.