Inland navigation delivery chain
Lock and Dam 9 separates G&G fabrication from USACE installation
USACE's 11 August completion account resolves the most important delivery-chain question at Lock and Dam 9. G&G Steel fabricated the four replacement miter-gate leaves in Alabama over about two years, but it did not perform the reported field installation. St. Paul and Rock Island District maintenance and repair crews completed that work over four July closure days with Rock Island's 500-ton heavy-lift crane The Quad Cities.
The summer schedule becomes reported physical completion
The DVIDS story is an official USACE St. Paul District completion account reporting the four-day installation, USACE crew, heavy-lift crane, fabrication duration, transport mode and 50% weight increase. The USACE project page identifies G&G Steel's fabrication role, anchorage scope and funding lines. The closure notice dates the July installation sequence.
Fabrication and installation sit on different evidence lines
Hydraulic-steel projects are easy to misread when one named supplier appears before installation. Confirmed roles cover a specialist fabricator, internal USACE engineering and contracting supervision, two-district force-account installation, barge transport and a named floating heavy-lift asset. The fabrication award value, transport contractor, rigging or diving lower tiers, accepted installation cost and final account remain undisclosed.
Evidence conclusion
Close the commercial and component-supply ledger next
USACE's dated completion story establishes physical completion of all four gate replacements. The USD 1.5 million for anchorage work and USD 1.25 million for installation are fiscal-year 2026 funding lines only. Neither amount is attributed to G&G Steel, whose evidenced role is fabrication rather than field installation, while private lower-tier participation remains unresolved. Commercial close-out still requires the fabrication contract, gate-component and coating suppliers, barge-transport responsibility, test and acceptance package and actual cost reconciliation.
Outstanding evidence
- G&G Steel fabrication award, value and modification history
- Gate steel, seals, coatings, machining and component suppliers
- Barge transport, towage, rigging, diving and survey lower tiers
- Installation testing and owner acceptance records
- Actual cost against the two fiscal-year 2026 funding lines
- First operating-season availability and maintenance
- Winter inspection after ice loading
- Defects close-out and final account
Subject index
Related subjects
These subject pages bring together related projects, technical articles, reports, and evidence methods.
Sources used 3
- Stronger gates, stronger river: Lock and Dam 9 upgrade secures Upper Mississippi Navigation U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District via DVIDS, 11 August 2026
- Navigation: Mississippi River Locks and Dams 2-10, Miter Gate Replacements U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, 25 March 2026
- Corps of Engineers announces temporary closures at Lock and Dam 9 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District via DVIDS, 1 July 2026