Melvin Price Locks and Dam

Melvin Price Locks and Dam ( Melvin Price Locks and dam, also Lock and Dam No. Called 26 ) is the penultimate in the flow direction of 29 locks on the upper Mississippi and the last before the Missourimündung. Built in 1978-1989 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers combined building is located between Alton in Madison County, Illinois and the West Alton in St. Charles County in Missouri.

The building is located in the Metro - East called the eastern part of the metropolitan area of ​​Greater St. Louis the city of St. Louis in neighboring Missouri.

Barrage

To barrage includes a 610 m long stone dam on the Missouri side and a 353.6 m long variable part, which consists of a 9-part segment weir.

The dam height is nine feet (5.80 m). The purpose of the weir is not in the first line of flood protection, but the damming of the Mississippi for navigation.

Lock

The lock consists of two chambers, the 365.8 m long main chamber and the 182.9 m long second lock chamber. The width is 33.5 m each. The lock chambers are not directly next to each other but are separated by two segments of the weir.

History

The building was named after Charles Melvin Price (1905-1988), a long-time members of the U.S. House of Representatives (1945-1988) from Illinois.

The earlier 1938-1990 existing Lock and Dam 26 was located a little further upstream in the vicinity of the now replaced by a new bridge Old Clark Bridge. The new dam is the first that has replaced in the 1930s in the wake of the then expanding to a dam height of 9 feet (2.70 m) built building.

The National Great Rivers Museum in Alton the history of the meet here, great rivers and their use as well as the history of ancient and new weirs 26 is shown.