Waterways Council, Inc. released an interim report on the severe economic impacts resulting from emergency closure of the McAlpine Lock on the Ohio River, near Louisville, Ky. The lock will close for about two weeks, starting Aug. 9. For users of the inland waterway, the concern is that there are no auxiliary locks available, and the river will be closed to all navigation at the location during the length of the repairs.
It is expected that the closure of the McAlpine lock will affect commodities, including various scrap and metal products that move from the Gulf Coast and Lower Mississippi River region to and throughout the Ohio Valley.
The WCI attributes the drawn-out construction period for a second lock to insufficient federal funding. Originally authorized in the early 1990s, this second lock, if completed as scheduled, would have opened by now, and the current crisis would have been averted.
The WCI study on the effects of the McAlpine Lock closure involved interviews with 74 producing and consuming industries that are users of the lock for transportation.
A few key results of the study find that seven of the companies will suffer a severe effect in production and employment during the construction period. These companies expect to see the flow of about 165,000 tons of material disrupted by the lock closure.
Additionally, 17 companies are expected to suffer a heavy effect, with 800,000 tons of traffic affected by the period. Twenty two companies will feel moderate effects from the closure.
Taken together, the safe and efficient transportation by water of over two million tons of commodities will be disrupted by the two-week closure. This amounts to more than 1,250 loaded barges, 550 empty barges and 190 towboat passages to be delayed by the lock closure.