Chittenden Locks large chamber limited to half lockages

The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks large chamber is limited to half lockages because of a malfunction with one of the miter gates.

While locking through a barge at 5:30 a.m. December 21 the lock wall crew noticed one of the gates was shifted up about six inches. The miter gates are the large gates that open and close to let vessels in or out of the chamber.

“We believe the large amount of rain is moving debris around and some is stuck under the gate,” said Operations Project Manager Jon Hofstra. “Our maintenance crew is working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”

Until officials provide notice of full large lock operation, vessels longer than 375 feet should contact the tower before heading to the locks. The small chamber is still operating. Vessels up to 28-feet wide by 123-feet long are able to lock through the small chamber.

The large chamber reopened November 30 to half lockages and December 3 to full lockages after an extended closure to replace one of the 102-year-old Stoney Gate Valves. These valves open and close to let water in and out of the chamber. The current outage is not related to the new valve.

The small chamber is scheduled to close January 6-24 for annual maintenance. The large chamber is scheduled to close February 12-April 5 for the second extended closure for the Stoney Gate Valve project.

For more information about scheduled and projected Chittenden Lock closures visit https://go.usa.gov/xVtpE. For closures and other activities visit the Locks’ Web site at http://bit.ly/BallardLocks. Also follow the Locks on Facebook and Twitter: www.facebook.com/chittendenlocks and http://twitter.com/ChittendenLocks.