On February 11, 2014 MAFC Program Manager Ernie Perry and CFIRE Executive Director Teresa Adams joined the ASCE NW branch for a site visit of Lock and Dam 8 at Genoa, Wisconsin. This lock is currently undergoing renovation and is completely dewatered, allowing attendees a unique opportunity to see the maintenance on the lock’s miter gates, bubbler system, and walls.
Lock and Dam 8 sees roughly 1500 commercial and 4500 recreational locks during the open-water season that lasts from April to December. The 600-foot lock is undergoing maintenance during the winter while the Upper Mississippi is closed to navigation. This 20-year maintenance doubles the number of USACE employees to more than forty.

Perry and Adams attended this event as part of their work with the Wisconsin Commercial Ports Master Plan and as part of CFIRE’s ongoing support of marine freight in the Mid-America Freight Coalition (MAFC).