M/V Glenn W. Jones and Locks and Dam 52

This may mean nothing, or it may mean something.

As noted yesterday, the Ohio River is closed to navigation today as the wickets at Locks and Dam 52 are lowered. That’s because the new Olmsted Locks and Dam is raising its pool.

The last boat to complete a lockage before the river was closed was the Glenn W. Jones, downbound with 15 barges. It started its lockage at 10:09 a.m. CDT today and ended at 11:19.

By coincidence, or maybe not, the Glenn W. Jones was the boat in the lock at Olmsted last week during the ribboncutting and dedication ceremony.

I don’t know if the Corps of Engineers plans to keep 52’s wickets down if Olmsted holds its pool or if the Corps plans to lower Olmsted’s wickets and raise them again as a test. If it’s the first, the Glenn W. Jones could be the last boat to have locked through Locks and Dam 52, making it also the last boat to use a lock at the last remaining low-lift wicket dam on the Ohio.

Perhaps another boat will have that honor. We’ll have to see.

As for the decommissioned Locks and Dam 53, I don't know. I'll try to get that info in the next few days.