Lock and Dam No. 2
Encyclopedia
- The first lock and dam to be built on the Mississippi was also called Lock and Dam No. 2. See Meeker Island Lock and DamMeeker Island Lock and DamThe Meeker Island Lock and Dam was the first lock and dam facility built on the Upper Mississippi River. After a construction period lasting eight years, the site was only in operation for five years from 1907 to 1912 when the growing interest in hydroelectric power led to design and construction...
.
Lock and Dam No. 2 is located along the Upper
Upper Mississippi River
The Upper Mississippi River is the portion of the Mississippi River upstream of Cairo, Illinois, United States. From the headwaters at Lake Itasca, Minnesota, the river flows approximately 2000 kilometers to Cairo, where it is joined by the Ohio River to form the Lower Mississippi...
Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
near Hastings, Minnesota
Hastings, Minnesota
Hastings is a city in Dakota counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota, near the confluence of the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers. The population was 22,172 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Dakota County. The bulk of Hastings is in Dakota County; only a small part of the city extends...
and was originally built in 1907. The eastern dam portion is 722 feet (220 m) wide and has 19 tainter gate
Tainter gate
The Tainter gate is a type of radial arm floodgate used in dams and canal locks to control water flow. It is named for Wisconsin structural engineer Jeremiah Burnham Tainter....
s. A hydroelectric station that produces about 4.4 megawatts is owned by the city of Hastings, while the 110 × 600 foot (34 × 183 m) lock is operated by the St. Paul district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Mississippi Valley Division
Mississippi Valley Division
The United States Army Corps of Engineers Mississippi Valley Division and the complementary Mississippi River Commission are responsible for maintaining the Mississippi River as a navigable waterway while preventing flooding. This includes the operation of harbor and lock and dam facilities up...
. There's also a wide earthen dam on the western side of the facility.
Following construction, the original lock walls settled and began to lean out of alignment, so a replacement lock was built. It was finished in 1948. A rehabilitation phase ran from 1987 to 1995. In 2009, Lock and Dam No. 2 became home to the nation's first commercial, Federally-licensed hydrokinetic power facility, which is a partnership between the City of Hastings and Hydro Green Energy, LLC of Westmont, IL.