August 3, 2009 Congressman Parker Griffith visits Wilson Lock to see stimulus money in action.

By Cline Jones, Executive Director

Tennessee River Valley Association

U.S. Congressman Parker Griffith of Alabama’s 5^th District visited the Wilson Lock on the Tennessee River in Florence, AL on Monday August 3, 2009, during the facility’s scheduled four-week closure for maintenance.

The first term Member of the House of Representatives and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Member was led on a detailed tour of the Tennessee River waterway infrastructure asset’s main chamber by Mike Wilson, DPM USACE Nashville District, and Wilson Lock’s Operations Manager Jim Davis. Griffith was joined by Major William Judson, USACE Nashville District, Daniel Tidwell, staff member for U.S. Congressman Robert Aderholt (AL 4^th), Waymon Pace, of the Tennessee Valley Authority, and Cline Jones, Executive Director of the Tennessee River Valley Association.

In comments after his tour, Congressman Griffith stated: “To be able to take this tour is great. It’s good to go the bedside, being a Doctor I know how important that is. You can hear about things over the phone, but until you get there and see it, you don’t recognize it for what it is.” Noting the importance of Wilson Lock to North Alabama and the Tennessee Valley, Griffith went on to say, “We recognize the value of Wilson historically, but we’re really here about the future. The future is about energy, conservation, moving material to and from our Valley chemical plants, and moving rocket motors and components to and from our facilities upstream in the Huntsville and Decatur areas.” The Delta Mariner transports Atlas and Delta rockets used in our nation’s space program via the Tennessee River from the United Launch Alliance assembly facility in Decatur, AL to launch facilities in Florida and California, cargo too large for efficient transport by any other mode available.

Griffith acknowledged the efficiency of waterborne transportation stating, “One 15 barge tow can take nine hundred eighteen wheelers of the highways, and so for those of us who travel congested interstates and see the big trucks passing us by, we can partially help that if we emphasize the use of our navigation locks at the dams on the Tennessee River. The Corps of Engineers is a vital part of this operation, and I hope I can help in some small way.”

Tennessee River Valley Association Board of Directors Member Elaine Patterson of Olin Chlor-Alkali Headquarters near Chattanooga, TN traveled to Florence to emphasize to Congressman Griffith, during his visit to Wilson Lock, the value of our Tennessee River waterway infrastructure to the efficient transportation of products important to manufacturing concerns beyond our region. Chemicals, coal, grains, iron and steel, sand and aggregates, along with ores and minerals, are the primary commodities transported by barge upstream of Wilson Lock in the Tennessee Valley region.

On average, 3,700 vessels and approximately 12 million tons of commodities pass through Wilson’s aging lock system annually. The 393 miles of the navigable Tennessee River upstream of Wilson Lock in North Alabama and East Tennessee, is provided access to our nation’s 11,000 mile interconnected inland waterway system that links ports and terminals on the Tennessee with those in 22 states and with the ocean ports of Mobile and New Orleans.

Wilson’s 110’x600’x100’ maximum lift main chamber, completed in 1959, is the largest single stage lift east of the Rocky Mountains. While the main chamber requires increasingly more frequent maintenance, the 82-year-old 60’x300’x2 auxiliary chambers that went into service in 1927, struggle to handle the load during extended repair periods. According to TRVA Board Member Mark Mayfield, Vice President & General Manager of Tennessee Valley Towing, during the closure of the main chamber “TVT boats have waited between 24-48 hours, and then are averaging about 1.25 hours per barge/boat for locking through the smaller auxiliary chambers. Generally, there is no wait, and locking is completed in 2 hours. The general cost to TVT is $375-$400 per hour for every hour over two of normal locking time. In these tough economic times when we’re scraping by, the delay is a real hammer to revenue and profit.”

The fact this aging system of locks continues to function at the level of efficiency that it does, is a tribute to the excellent work of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It also highlights the critical need for continued sufficient federal funding for operations & maintenance on the Tennessee River System, to insure the river’s ability to continue to provide the tremendous economic benefits that are so desperately needed in the Tennessee Valley region.

Wilson Lock minus water

750 Ton lower lock of Wilson Lock

We all need to support leaders who recognize the benefits of waterborne transportation to our economy and to our environment in North Alabama, the Tennessee Valley region, and to our nation. With his visit to Wilson Lock, Congressman Parker Griffith demonstrated his acknowledgement of the value of North Alabama’s waterway infrastructure to our communities, and the need for continued development, improvement, and modernization of our region’s commercially navigable inland waterway system. North Alabama and the Tennessee Valley has, and should expect to continue to benefit from his leadership in Congress and his service on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.