![Aerial image of Locks and Dam 3, Monongahels River](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090109014944im_/http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/nav/images/ld3m_aerial.jpg)
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Locks and Dam 3
P.O. Box 455
Elizabeth, PA 15037-0455
412-384-4532
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Locks ad Dam 3 is one of nine navigation structures
which provide for year-round navigation on the Monongahela River
between Pittsburgh, PA and Fairmont, West Virginia. It maintains
a pool for 23.8
miles above the mouth of the Monongahela at Pittsburgh, just
above Elizabeth, PA
Location
Locks and Dam 3 is located at river mile 23.8 at the city of Elizabeth,
PA The lock chambers and operations buildings are situated along
the right bank of the river adjacent to a main line of Pittsburgh
and Lake Erie Railroad. Road access to the project is from a local
road going south out of Elizabeth.
History
Construction of Locks and Dam 3 at this present site was begun in
1905 and completed in 1907. After some 70 years of use, a major
rehabilitation of the project, the busiest on the Mon River, was
completed in 1980. This work involved reconstruction of the lock
chambers.
Project
Information
Locks and Dam 3 consists of two lock chambers and a fixed crest
dam. This type of dam is basically a concrete weir or wall across
the river which keeps the river channel upriver of the project deep
enough for navigation -- about 9 feet or more. Water which flows
over this type of dam cannot be controlled locally. Consequently,
it cannot provide any control over flood waters. An incidental benefit
derived from the pool formed by the dam is the availability of a
source of municipal and industrial water.
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