Lock schedule for upper Monongahela River released

PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released the 2019 locking schedule for the upper Monongahela River. The rivers most upper locks, Hildebrande and Opekiska are largely idle for much of the year due to a lack of commercial traffic on the river. The first lock activity is Memorial Day weekend.

“We operate for commercial shipping, but we do everything we can to get recreational lockages as we can at the same time,” said John Dilla, spokesman for the Pittsburgh District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Dilla said the Morganntown Lock and Dam averages about 400 commercial lockages each year. The dam is maintained daily, but the upper two are only manned on the weekends scheduled in an agreement with the Upper Mon River Association. The private group raises funds and pays the Corps for a lock operator on appointed weekends. A special act of Congress enabled the Corps to be able to accept the private funds for the operation outside the scope of their budget and mission for recreational lockage.

“That’s what have been provided by the Contributed Funds Lockage and those are the hours we’ll be open at Hildebrande and Opekiska,” he said.

Each of the designated days runs from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dilla said keep an eye on your watch, otherwise, you might find yourself stuck in a place where there aren’t a lot of options for getting out of the river.

“Probably around 20 minutes until four, we’re going to be looking because it takes a half hour to lock through,” Dilla said. “Try to be there a half hour before four so we can get you back on the side of the lock you need to be on.”

The Lock Schedule for 2019 for the Opekiska and Hildebrande Locks and Dam on the Monongahela River: