Melvin Price Locks and Dam facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Melvin Price Locks and Dam
Melvin Price Locks and Dam (Lock and Dam number 26)
Location of Melvin Price Locks and Dam in USA Missouri
Location	Alton, Illinois / West Alton, Missouri, USA
Coordinates	38°52′09″N 90°09′13″W / 38.86917°N 90.15361°W / 38.86917; -90.15361
Construction began	1978
Opening date	1989
Operator(s)	U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District
Dam and spillways
Impounds	Upper Mississippi River
Length	1,160 feet (353.6 m)
Reservoir
Creates	Pool 26
Total capacity	238,000 acre⋅ft (0.294 km3)
Catchment area	171,470 sq mi (444,100 km2)

Melvin Price Locks and Dam is a dam and two locks at river mile 200.78 on the Upper Mississippi River, about 17 miles (27 km) north of Saint Louis, Missouri. The collocated National Great Rivers Museum, at 1 Lock and Dam Way, East Alton, Illinois, explains the structure and its engineering.

Construction began in 1979, the main lock opened in 1990, and the full structure was completed in 1994. It replaced the earlier Lock and Dam No. 26, demolished in 1990, and is the first replacement structure on the Upper Mississippi River nine-foot navigation project. The main lock is 1,200 feet (370 m) long and 110 feet (34 m) wide; the auxiliary is 600 feet (180 m) long and 110 feet (34 m) wide. The main lock has a vertical lift gate and a miter gate while the aux. lock has two miter gates. The dam is 1,160 feet (350 m) long with 9 tainter gates, each 110 feet (34 m) wide by 42 feet (13 m) high.

It is named after Illinois Congressman Charles Melvin Price.

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  Annotated image of the lock and dam

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  Dam and locks from Missouri shore

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  Close-up of the gates on the Melvin Price Lock & Dam

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• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. IL-32, "Upper Mississippi River 9-foot (2.7 m) Channel Project, Lock & Dam 26R, Alton vicinity, Madison County, IL", 59 photos, 9 data pages, 5 photo caption pages