Looking ESE from upper end of 1200-foot main lock (completed in 1961) at McAlpine Locks
Coast Guard buoy tender "Obion" entering lock, downbound.
At left and right are structures housing the lifting machinery for the emergency gate, which normally sits in a well at the bottom of the lock sill. If there is an uncontrolled flow of water through the lock (such as might occur if one of the lower miter gates failed while the upper gates were open, or vice versa), the emergency gate can be raised from its well to stop the flow. This gate is also used to close off the lock when the upper gates need maintenance.
The observation deck atop the structure at left was open to the public until about 2001.
The red sign indicates a point 50 feet from the end of the lock and reminds upbound pilots entering the lock to avoid hitting the upper miter gates.
Downtown Louisville can be seen in distance.
CGC (Coast Guard Cutter) "Obion" (WLR 65503, MMSI 366999503, 65 feet x 21 feet, twin Cat D353 diesels, 660 horsepower)
Built in 1962 by Gibbs Corp., Jacksonville, Florida
Owned by U.S. Coast Guard
Operates as a river buoy tender (WLR in Coast Guard parlance) out of Owensboro, Kentucky
Tows a crane barge equipped with buoys and sinkers
The crew of 16 maintains aids to navigation (ATONs) on large sections of the Ohio and Green Rivers, including the Louisville area
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