Replacement
Replacement of the canal lock with a larger lock was authorized as early as 1956, provided that traffic levels justified it. By the late 20th century, barge tows were waiting an average of ten hours to lock through. Despite community opposition in the adjacent Lower 9th Ward and Bywater neighborhoods, Congress approved a $573 million replacement project in 1998, and site acquisition and preparation began.
The new lock design features a larger chamber—35.5 meters (110 ft) wide, 366 meters (1200 ft) long and 9.6 meters (31.5 ft) deep. The lock is designed to be precast nearby and floated to site, immediately north of the existing lock. Ancillary and collateral work includes replacement of the adjacent St. Claude Avenue Bridge and nearby Florida Avenue Bridge.
Opponents of the replacement project argue that, in addition to causing environmental problems and economic disruption, lock construction is economically unjustified. Deep-draft ship traffic through the existing lock, for instance, declined by 29 percent between 1983 and 1991; and the primary barge commodity, coal, is projected to continue declining due to a number of economic and political factors. Proponents of the lock replacement project point to the same figures to support their contention that the existing obsolete lock is choking off commerce. Maritime interests also argue that in light of the closure of the MRGO, and the loss of the deepwater access it provided to the Gulf of Mexico, modern oceangoing vessels are unable to access the inner harbor of the Industrial Canal, permanently limiting the canal's utility as a site for shipyards and other industry requiring water access. A significant industrial exodus in the wake of the Katrina-induced closure of the MRGO has already transpired, with International Shipholding, Bollinger Shipyards and New Orleans Cold Storage departing. Without a new lock, the Port of New Orleans' France Road Container Terminal and Jourdan Road Wharf would also remain closed, as they too relied on the deepwater access provided by the MRGO.
Read more about this topic: Industrial Canal Lock
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