Lock and Dam Number 52, Navigation complex on Ohio River, United States
Lock and Dam Number 52 was a navigation complex on the Ohio River, located near Olmsted, Illinois, close to the Kentucky border. It had two separate locks of different widths to accommodate the range of commercial vessels using the river.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the complex in 1929 as part of a broader effort to make the Ohio River reliably navigable for commercial traffic. After nearly a century of use, it was torn down between 2019 and 2020 once a replacement facility had come into service.
The Ohio River has long been a working river, and communities along its banks grew around the movement of coal, grain, and other goods by barge. A facility like this one was part of the daily rhythm of river towns that depended on steady water traffic.
Since the complex has been demolished, there are no standing structures to see at the site today. Visitors interested in the history of river navigation in the area can still view the Ohio River from the surrounding banks to get a sense of the waterway's scale and importance.
The replacement facility, Olmsted Lock and Dam, took over 25 years to complete, making it one of the longest infrastructure projects in the history of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. During that entire period, Lock and Dam Number 52 continued to operate and handle river freight without interruption.
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