Posted on August 21, 2017
By Kortny Hahn, Cheboygan Daily Tribune
Ryba Marine Construction in Cheboygan was recently awarded an almost $2.4 million contract for major construction repairs at the Poe Locks, part of the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie.
The contract is to replace quoin and miter blocks in the lock system. The structures to be replaced are part of the crucial and deteriorating infrastructure at the Soo Locks. The company will be removing the existing blocks, then fabricating and replacing these steel blocks on gates one and three of the Poe Lock at the St. Mary’s River navigational locks.
“The Poe Lock provides a critical connection for navigation between the upper and lower Great Lakes,” said Lt. Col. Dennis Sugrue, Detroit district engineer in a press release from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “Repairs like this are necessary to maintain reliable functionality of the Poe Lock gates. We are pleased to award this contract that helps to achieve our vision of a reliable and resilient Great Lakes Navigation System.”
This project is a large priority and will be done mostly during the winter months, January to mid March 2018, when the locks are shut down for the winter. The work is scheduled to be completed by June next year.
The quoin blocks to be replaced are square and relatively flat blocks that are placed at the interface between the gate and the wall. Miter blocks are a similar block that will be placed on each gate leaf where the gates contact each other.
According to the press release, the gates at the lock are large doors which seal off the lock chamber from the upper and lower canal. These gates, called miter gates, when closed, meet at an angle like a chevron, with the pressure from the water level keeping the gates closed.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, maintains a navigation system of 91 harbors and four connecting channels, including the channels joining lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, St. Clair and Erie.
Cheboygan City Manager Tom Eustice is excited about a local company being awarded such an important bid.
“We’re hoping that both of those companies, Kokosing and Ryba are going to grow. Now that they have the available space, they can keep their equipment and barges and so forth here,” said Eustice. “I think it’s important that we help those two companies to grow and keep those jobs here.”
With the companies being able to expand, add more workers to their labor force, it will allow them to bid on large projects such as the Soo Locks repairs, which will help them to grow more as well.
Source: Cheboygan Daily Tribune
