Seaway officials tour Snell Lock winter maintenance

MASSENA — The ships are gone, the tourists have left and the St. Lawrence River is iced over.

It’s time for the winter maintenance crew at the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. to get to work.

Seaway officials hosted a tour Wednesday of repairs at the drained 50-foot-deep Snell Lock. The repairs are part of the development corporation’s Asset Renewal Program, a 10-year, $180 million effort to repair aging infrastructure.

There are 10 different contractors and approximately 70 employees working on the Snell Lock repairs, according to St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. Administrator Collister “Terry” Johnson.

That’s the largest number of contractors working on the Seaway locks since their 1950s construction. Nine of the 10 contractors are in-state, and five are from within St. Lawrence County.

“This is quite a massive piece of infrastructure that has to be maintained. The only time we can really do it is in the winter when we close the locks,” Mr. Johnson said. “It has to be done in a hurry, because we have two and a half months to do it.”

The repairs must be completed in the next few weeks, said Thomas A. Lavigne, the Seaway’s director of engineering and maintenance. The locks have to undergo several weeks of test runs before the Seaway reopens in late March.

Much of the repair work centered on drilling new concrete blocks by the lock’s gates, Mr. Lavigne said. The concrete had corroded after more than 50 years of wear and tear.

Mr. Lavigne explained the specifics of each 115-ton gate from lock’s bottom. Behind him were “stoplogs,” or temporary dams, that prevented the river water on the other side from seeping into the lock. Drilling noises echoed around him.

This winter, personnel have been working on the locks six days a week, at least 20 hours each day, Mr. Lavigne said.

The Seaway also is replacing four lock valves and converting them to a hydraulic system.

“We haven’t found anything major. It’s been a good winter so far,” Mr. Lavigne said. “We’ll fix up what we have to.”

The repairs will ensure the lock’s performance for decades to come, he said. Last year, crews worked on the nearby Eisenhower Lock.

“We have no intention of replacing these gates in the near future or even in the far future,” Mr. Lavigne said.

Massena’s economy is benefiting from the repairs, Mr. Johnson said.

Seaway officials estimated that the Asset Renewal Program has generated $2.5 million in economic benefits to the region, including local hiring, spending on supplies and equipment, and lodging and meals for out-of-town contractors.

Since 2009, the Seaway has awarded nearly $35 million to upstate contractors for the work, Mr. Johnson said.

“Much of that money that is spent stays here in the north country,” he said. “In a very significant way, we’re also in the economic development business.”