Chickamauga Dam is located on the Tennessee River in Hamilton County, Tennessee. The dam forms Chickamauga Lake and the lock provides access for commercial and recreational navigation to an additional 314 miles of Tennessee River extending beyond Oak Ridge and Knoxville Tennessee. While owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for maintaining a navigation channel on the river and operates all nine locks on the Tennessee River and one on the Clinch River through a partnership with TVA. Replacement of the lock is needed because of alkali aggregate reaction, commonly known as growing concrete, found throughout the Chickamauga Dam. This has caused maintenance issues in the existing lock resulting in prolonged outages and expensive repairs. The lock originally constructed in 1940, the lock is 84 years old.

The new lock will measure 110’ x 600’ and allow up to 9 barges to lock through at a time, compared to the one barge the current lock can pass. The replacement project was first authorized in 2003 and has received additional funding through the consolidated appropriations act of 2024 that allows this final contract to be solicited. The scope of work includes bringing the new lock to full operation, removal of the cofferdam, decommissioning the existing lock, and site restoration around the Chickamauga Dam. Throughout this contract, the old lock will remain in operation until the new lock is open for public use, no prolonged “outages” are expected.

“We expect to award this final contract in the fall of this year. Potential contractors have received the plans and specifications last week and will be on site to gain a better understanding of the scope of work,” said Capt. Joseph Cotton, USACE Nashville District project manager. “This replacement project will increase reliability of the inland navigation system and improve the overall efficiency of industry for many years to come. During construction, safety of our contractors followed by mitigating impacts to navigation are our top priorities.”