Melvin Price Locks and Dam

Melvin Price Locks and Dam
Melvin Price Locks and Dam (Lock and Dam number 26)
Location	Alton, Illinois / West Alton, Missouri, USA
Coordinates	38°52′09″N 90°09′13″W / 38.86917°N 90.15361°W / 38.86917; -90.15361
Construction began	1978
Opening date	1989
Dam and spillways
Length	1,160 feet (353.6 m)
Impounds	Upper Mississippi River
Reservoir
Creates	Pool 26
Melvin Price Locks and Dam (Missouri)

Melvin Price Locks and Dam is a dam and two locks at river mile 200.78 on the Upper Mississippi River, about 17 miles (27 km) north of Saint Louis, Missouri. The collocated National Great Rivers Museum, at 1 Lock and Dam Way, East Alton, Illinois, explains the structure and its engineering.

Construction began in 1979, the main lock opened in 1990, and the full structure was completed in 1994. It replaced the earlier Lock and Dam No. 26, demolished in 1990, and is the first replacement structure on the Upper Mississippi River nine-foot navigation project. The main lock is 1,200 feet (370 m) long and 110 feet (34 m) wide; the auxiliary is 600 feet (180 m) long and 110 feet (34 m) wide. The main lock has a vertical lift gate and a miter gate while the aux. lock has two miter gates. The dam is 1,160 feet (350 m) long with 9 tainter gates, each 110 feet (34 m) wide by 42 feet (13 m) high.

It is named after Illinois Congressman Charles Melvin Price.

References

• Map of Melvin Price Locks and Dam area

External links

• USACE Melvin Price Locks and Dam
• HAER - Upper Mississippi River 9-foot (2.7 m) Channel Project, Lock & Dam 26R, Alton vicinity, Madison County, IL
• Hydroacoustic Identification and Sampling of Fish Aggregations in Tailwater Areas (2005 Monitoring Report – Fish Passage Melvin Price Locks and Dam, Alton, Illinois and Lock and Dam 22, Saverton, Missouri)

Annotated image of the lock and dam

Dam and locks from Missouri shore

Locks and dams of the Upper Mississippi River
USAF • LSAF • 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 5A • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27
Upstream: Lock and Dam No. 25	Downstream: Chain of Rocks Lock

Coordinates: 38°52′09″N 90°09′13″W / 38.86917°N 90.15361°W / 38.86917; -90.15361