The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers owns and operates the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam. The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) within the Water Infrastructure and Improvements for the Nation Act of NEW SAVANNAH BLUFF LOCK AND DAM HAER No. GA-167 (Page 2) WINN Act) deauthorized the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam and requires modifications to the fish passage as part of the authorized Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP). The SHEP fish passage must allow safe passage over the structure to historic spawning grounds of endangered shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon and other native migratory fish, while maintaining the functionality of the pool for navigation, water supply, and recreational activities.
As part of that project, all elements of the lock and dam above the water line require demolition. This HAER project was undertaken to mitigate the adverse effects of demolition under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sponsored this documentation effort and consulted with the South Carolina and Georgia State Historic Preservation offices. Ms. Patricia Stallings of Brockington and Associates, Inc., prepared the history documentation and Mr. William M. Brockenbrough completed the large-format photography. Part I. Historical Information A. Physical History: 1. Date(s) of construction: 2. Architect/Engineer: The U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District prepared engineering plans for the lock and dam while the Public Works Administration funded and managed the contract work. Pittsburgh District employed French-born and Philadelphia-based architect Paul Cret to assist with the superficial architecture of the operation building. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District conducted channel improvements and would ultimately assume the primary maintenance role for the facility. 3. Builder/Contractor: The Arundel Corporation of Baltimore was contracted to complete the lock and dam, and the Morrison-Glascock Company was contracted to pave the downstream dam embankment, building jetties, spur dams, and other channel improvements. 4.
Original plans and construction: The original plans, developed by the Corps Pittsburgh District, are dated Paul Cret s drawings for the operation building are dated June The engineering plans included a lock with double-leaf miter gates on the upstream and downstream ends, a dam with five vertical lift gates (two overflow, three non-overflow), and an operation building to house the control apparatuses. The Public Works Administration began pool clearing work in with the preponderance of construction on the structures occurring in Interlocking steel coffer dams allowed for dry working spaces in the river. The first coffer dams were installed on the NEW SAVANNAH BLUFF LOCK AND DAM HAER No.
GA-167 (Page 3) north (Georgia) side for construction of the lock and abutment containing the operation building. Once complete, work began on the South Carolina abutment, and then finally the dam proper. The first official lockage occurred in September and the lock and dam was fully operational in early 5. Alterations and additions: A secondary enclosure was added atop the operation building in the This enclosure consists of a concrete block structure and a wood- framed roof and paired metal doors. This structure encloses the roof access from below. B. Historic Context:1 Navigation improvements to the Savannah Harbor and the lower reaches of the Savannah River have remained a priority for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers since the mid-nineteenth century.
Engineers have faced the constant development and maintenance challenges of sedimentation from downstream flows, the tidal estuary at the mouth of the river, and large sandbars further out to sea. However, because the City of Savannah serves as a major center of commerce and trade, local, state, and federal interests have worked collectively to maintain the depths and navigability required by the evolving sizes and depth of maritime vessels.2 The harbor was not the only key to the city s economic vitality. The river itself was a major commercial highway, carrying goods from the interior sections of both Georgia and South Carolina.
Despite the development of railroads through the upstream City of Augusta, the federal government continued to allocate funding to the Corps to improve navigability from Augusta to Savannah. The New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam is located in a section of the Savannah River historically referred to by the Corps of Engineers as Below Augusta for civil works purposes. During the nineteenth century, this thirty-mile section of river carried significant sediment, which increased during high water events. The meandering stretch also suffered from bank erosion, uprooted trees, and numerous sandbars and shoals. During dry months, river depths dropped to as little as two or three feet at various locations, which meant waterborne traffic had to stop and portage cargo around the bars.
Under the Rivers and Harbors Act of the Corps began its first major navigational improvement project on the Savannah River below Augusta, with plans to provide a minimum low-water depth of five feet. The primary engineering method included constructing low wing dams to prevent formation of sandbars, brush mattresses to prevent erosion along the riverbanks, cutting trees, dredging, and removal of snags and logs. In 1 A version of this historical documentation was first prepared in as part of cultural resources investigations. That history has been revised and expanded for this HAER report. See C.
Scott Butler, Michael Reynolds, and Patricia Stallings, Cultural Resources Survey of the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam Fish Passage Tract, Aiken County, South Carolina and Richmond County Georgia. (Atlanta, Georgia: Brockington and Associates, Inc., September Technical report prepared for Tetra Tech, Inc. on behalf of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District. 2 For a more detailed history of navigation engineering of the Savannah Harbor and improvements below Augusta, see Henry E. Barber and Allen R. Gann, History of Savannah District, US Army Corps of Engineers, (Savannah, GA: US Army Corps of Engineers, NEW SAVANNAH BLUFF LOCK AND DAM HAER No.
GA-167 (Page 4) addition, the Corps included some cut-offs in their comprehensive plans, but the river s dynamic channel proved difficult to control. In the quarter century between the Corps first survey of the river by Captain Jeremy F. Gilmer in and that of Colonel Quincy Gillmore in several cutoffs had formed naturally while others had closed.3 Despite the river s uncertain navigability and the Corps struggle to maintain the preferred five- foot depth, river traffic below Augusta increased during the late nineteenth century. Steamboats hauled cotton goods from the mills in Augusta as well as passenger traffic to and from Savannah. Additional federal appropriations in the early twentieth century allowed the Corps to relieve sandbars by constructing training dikes.
Constructed of pilings filled with brush and angled outward from the riverbanks, the dikes were designed to control the river s flow with an increased velocity which would scour out the troublesome locations. However, training dikes required tremendous maintenance, and in the Corps proposed a series of locks and dams. Congress provided the enabling legislation in the Rivers and Harbors Act of but the authorized funding remained limited to bank protection and training walls.
Later, when World War I forced a general cutback in civil works appropriations, improvement to the river channel below Augusta became a low priority for the Corps.4 Local interests, however, remained determined to maintain river traffic between Augusta and Savannah and grew frustrated that months of low water hampered commerce. During World War I, riverboat traffic was suspended due to high wages and other prohibitive costs, but after the war, local Augusta renewed their lobbying efforts with the government for a reliable channel.
The Rivers and Harbors Act authorized the Corps to initiate another navigation study.5 The Corps also suggested that to justify improvements, the City of Augusta needed to show good faith by operation of a municipal boat line .6 After receiving confirmation from from the Georgia Supreme Court that it had the legal authority to charter a boat line, the city purchased the old steam packet Altamaha and formed the Savannah River Improvement Commission in Finally, in the Rivers and Harbors Act of Congress approved a channel six feet deep, and typical channel improvements such as bank protection and snag removal, in addition to a lock and dam at Rifle Cut, nine miles below Augusta.7 To facilitate the study, the Corps funded an aerial survey of the river in The Act of also required cooperation by the City.
The City Council of Augusta approved the following terms in a May 4, resolution.: Subject to the provisions that work shall not be commenced until local interests shall have furnished, free of cost to the United States, the land required for the 3 Barber and Gann, Savannah District, 4 Barber and Gann, Savannah District, 5 Barber and Gann, Savannah District, 115 6 Frank E. Myers, Jr. Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam Nears Completion, Augusta Chronicle, January 10, 7 Augusta Chronicle. Augusta to Ask Nine Foot River, February 10, Barber and Gann, Savannah District, 8 Augusta Chronicle, Aero Man Makes Survey of River: Turner Here: Has Job of Mapping Water Route, April 22, NEW SAVANNAH BLUFF LOCK AND DAM HAER No.
GA-167 (Page 5) lock and dam and appurtenances, and all necessary flowage and dumping easements, not until satisfactory assurances have been received by the Secretary of War that there will be available within three years from the date work is started, adequate terminals for the economic handling of at least tons of commerce annually between Augusta and Savannah, exclusive of sand and rafted or barged logs.9 The Great Depression postponed the Corps plans until September 27, when the lock and dam was finally approved as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project under President Franklin D. Roosevelt s New Deal.
During the Great Depression, such New Deal programs and projects were funded across the country to provide economic stimulus through employment, as well as to enhance the nation s infrastructure. By the Corps had also recommended changing the location to New Savannah Bluff, three miles upstream from Rifle Cut. According to the Corps , a lock and dam at New Savannah Bluff would provide a pool to alleviate a difficult and shallow stretch of river .10 For its part, in the City of Augusta negotiated property on both sides of the river. The acres on the South Carolina bank was first deeded to the Savannah River Navigation Commission of South Carolina, authorized by the state s legislature in which in turn deeded the property to the US Government.
The Augusta City Council and the State of Georgia each transferred acres to the US Government in February and May of respectively.11 By this time, the City had abandoned use of the Altamaha in favor of the diesel driven Nancy Lee, and the Wofford Oil Company (local subsidiary of Chicago- based Pure Oil Company) installed a tow boat and barge on the river, anticipating that Augusta would become a new distribution point for petroleum products.12 New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam at its present site was officially authorized as a Corps project in the Rivers and Harbors Act. However, the PWA, with its own funding (totaling in hand, had already begun preliminary clearing in With its experience designing navigation locks and dams, the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District was assigned responsibility of preparing the engineering plans for the lock and dam structure. While much smaller in scale than his other Corps projects, Savannah District continued its maintenance role and conducted channel improvements using the snagboats Macon and pipeline dredge Creighton .13 9 US Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, Resolution by the City Council of Augusta, Georgia, NARA, RG 77, Savannah District Civil Works Project Files, Box 63. 10 Barber and Gann, Savannah District, US Army Corps of Engineers, Chief of Engineers. Savannah River Below Augusta. Letter from the Chief of Engineers, US Army to the Chairman of the Committee on Commerce. Congress, 2nd Session.
Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, NARA, RG 77, Savannah District Civil Works Project Files, Box 63. 11 Aiken County, South Carolina, Register of Mesne Conveyance, Title Book 63: Richmond County, Georgia, Superior Court, Deed Book and Deed Book 12 Augusta Chronicle, Savannah River Important to Life of Augusta and Area, edition of November 13, 13 Barber and Gann, Savannah District, While one of the smaller Corps districts, by this time, Pittsburgh had constructed more navigation locks and dams than any other district, including fifteen on the Monongahela, nine on the Allegheny, and thirteen on the Ohio. See, Leland R. Johnson and Jacque S. Minnotte, The Headwaters District NEW SAVANNAH BLUFF LOCK AND DAM HAER No.
GA-167 (Page 6) While the Pittsburgh District provided engineering designs, they employed the French-born and Philadelphia-based architect Paul Cret to assist in the superficial design of the operation building. Cret s portfolio of civic architecture melded his classical training with Modernism. By the he had gained the confidence of Corps engineers who sought an artistic hand to refine their purely functional work.
14 His designs at New Savannah Bluff, with the smooth tapered piers and subtle detailing on the operation building, were similar to other district designs of the period.15 The Arundel Corporation of Baltimore, Maryland won the construction contract for New Savannah Bluff on August 31, with a bid of Plans included a lock 56 feet wide and 360 feet long, with a vertical (navigation) lift of 15 feet and a fixed concrete dam with five vertical lift gates. Under PWA regulations, all skilled labor, except for certain key employees such as foremen, were to be procured in the Augusta area.
The Corps estimated that construction work at New Savannah Bluff would employ approximately 250 workers, with approximately 75% coming from Georgia and the remainder from South Carolina.17 Workers would be housed on site on the Georgia bank of the river, with their food and supplies to the greatest possible extent, purchased in the Augusta area.18 Resident Corps Engineer William A. Wells provided oversight of the project s construction and Wilcox of the Arundel Corporation served as the project manager. Construction began in September with the removal and burning of heavy timber along the riverbanks between Augusta and New Savannah Bluff.
This would create the run-of-the-river impoundment area.19 The Morrison-Glascock Company of Kansas City won the contract to pave the downstream dam embankment, jetties, spur dams and other channel improvements. Rock for the bank stabilization was brought from Grovetown, Georgia. Houses and appurtenances for a lockkeeper and an Roundtables: An Eyewitness History of the Pittsburgh District United States Army Corp of Engineers: (Pittsburgh, PA: United States Army Engineer District, 27. 14 Lauren McCroskey, Montgomery Locks and Dam, Ohio River: Direct Vertical Lift Gates, Design History. (Seattle, WA: U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, Technical Center of Expertise for Preservation of Historic Structures and Buildings, September While Cret is not credited on the District s engineering drawings for New Savannah Bluff, a schematic design of the New Savannah Bluff operation building is on file with the Cret Collection at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia (call number CRE303A, dated June 26, 15 Other Corps projects by Cret include Tygart Dam in West Virginia, Montgomery and Emsworth Dams on the Ohio River, and Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River. More broadly, federal dam design of this period represented an artistic shift toward more streamlined and modern architecture.
See Tim Culvahouse, The Tennessee Valley Authority: Design and Persuasion (New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press, 16 Augusta Chronicle, Forward With Savannah River Improvement, September 2, The Arundel Corporation had experience with large construction projects, including tunnels and bridges in the mid-Atlantic region and a hydro-electric development on the Saluda River near Columbia, South Carolina. 17 Atlanta Constitution, Georgia Labor Gets First Call at Dam, July 30, 18 Augusta Chronicle, Army Engineers Have Completed Necessary Plans, April 15, 19 Augusta Chronicle, Nearly Being Expended on River Development, June 16, Engineer William A.
Wells, a veteran of projects on the Mississippi River and Panama Canal, was assigned to the New Savannah Bluff project from the Nashville District. See Granger, History of the Savannah District: (Savannah, GA: U.S. Army Engineer District, December NEW SAVANNAH BLUFF LOCK AND DAM HAER No. GA-167 (Page 7) assistant were constructed on the Georgia side of the river. Both were two-story brick structures with running water, electricity, and garages.20 Other early physical work components included construction of the engineer office, canteen, workshops, and a pumphouse in the vicinity of the lockkeeper houses. While some materials arrived on site via barges, others were transported via a 2-mile temporary spur rail line, paralleling the river on the Georgia bank.
Projected expenditures were as follows:21 Lock, Dam, and Operation Building Spillway and Gates Channel Work Below Dam Two Lock Keeper s Houses Bank Clearing Work Total On May 14, the ceremonial start to the project coincided with Augusta s bicentennial celebration. A host of local dignitaries were on hand and included Augusta Mayor Richard E. Allen, County Attorney Isaac S. Peebles, South Carolina State Senator John F. Williams from Aiken County, and Maurice E. Dyess, president of the Augusta Traffic Bureau. The Corps representatives included district engineers Lt. Colonel Creswell Garlington and Colonel Earl I. Brown.22 Thomas J. Hamilton, tireless promoter of the river s development and editor of the Augusta Chronicle, poured the first concrete.
Also of note, the newspaper reported on several local workmen who quietly began work on the civil works project: Eight employees of the Arundel Corporation, including seven Negro workers, played an important part in pouring the first concrete on the lock and dam on the Savannah River, which followed elaborate exercises yesterday morning. These men, known only to a few, and whose names were not mentioned in laudatory speech, performed with simple efficiency their small but nonetheless necessary parts in carrying out the momentous event. Manuel Friday, Negro workman, had the honor of spreading the first concrete poured on the project from the mixer operated by William Guidar, white workman.
The concrete, gravel, and other materials were placed in the mixer by Lindsey Pryor, Will Flam, Ike Collins, Nathaniel McNeal, Martin Dorr, and John Satterwhite, all Negro workmen.23 Construction of the coffer dam for the navigation lock on the Georgia side of the river began immediately. The coffer dams were typical of the period and included interlocking steel pilings, a method the Corps proved effective with canalization projects along the Ohio River during the 20 Augusta Chronicle, Bids Called For in Special Work on New River Dam, June 7, The facility was operated locally by lockkeepers until the late The lockkeeper houses were demolished during the 21 Augusta Chronicle, Nearly Being Expended on River Development, June 16, 22 Earl T.
DeLoach, New Era of Progress for City Marked by Pouring of Concrete in New Dam, Augusta Chronicle May 14, 23 DeLoach, New Era of Progress, May 14, NEW SAVANNAH BLUFF LOCK AND DAM HAER No. GA-167 (Page 8) The two parallel sets of steel pilings were in-filled with granite, rock, and dirt. The lock design, with guide walls, bumper cells, and steel miter gates were typical for similar sized navigation structures of the period. The lock s mechanical equipment was housed on the upper level of the adjacent operation building to avoid inundation during high water events. Early designs for the operation building also considered three turbines for local electrical generation. While the pits were built into the foundation, the Corps ultimately determined purchasing electricity instead.
No generating units were ever installed. Once the lock was completed, work began on the South Carolina abutment and a small portion of the dam, which required a similar coffer dam. Following completion of that portion of the structure, the river was channeled through the navigation lock and another coffer dam constructed to allow for completion of the dam proper.25 The dam s vertical lift gates were similar to replacement gates employed by the Pittsburgh District at the time. The District was experimenting with new designs to replace older unreliable wicket gates and came to favor lift gates for low head discharges that proved more efficient in allowing passage of trash and chunks of ice.26 Even with the dam unfinished, the first lockage occurred in September when the Wiley L.
Moore, hauling materials for the Wofford Oil Company, traveled upstream from Savannah.27 The lock and dam was fully operational by early and was officially dedicated on June 26. Final estimates for materials used in construction of the lock and dam included, lineal feet of steel pilings, cubic yards of concrete, 870 tons of steel, and cubic yards of rock (for shoreline stabilization).28 With the river under control at New Savannah Bluff, the Corps turned its attention to planning development of Clarks Hill (now J. S. Thurmond, completed the first of an eventual three major upstream river management projects.
The Rivers and Harbors Act of authorized the Corps to provide for a channel nine feet deep and 90 feet wide for a 181-mile stretch of the Savannah River beginning at the upper end of the Savannah Harbor to the head of navigation at Augusta. At that time, the 181-mile stretch of river had only one dam, at New Savannah Bluff, and downstream water releases were controlled by regulated releases at a newly authorized upstream project at Clarks Hill.
Construction of the nine-foot channel modifications commenced in July and were completed in July at a cost of The Corps improvements of the Savannah River continued, with 24 Patrick O Bannon, Working in the Cofferdams, In-River Construction, and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Pittsburgh, PA: US Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh District, 25 Augusta Chronicle, Concrete Pouring for New Lock and Nearby Bluff is Scheduled to Begin in May, April 22, 26 McCroskey, Montgomery Locks and Dam, Vertical lift gates, while popular during the soon fell out of favor in lieu of improved taintor gate designs for most large flood control projects in the Corps. 27 Augusta Chronicle, First Boat Through New Locks, September 7, 28 Myers, Savannah Bluff, January 10, 29 U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, South Atlantic Division, Water Resources Development in Georgia (Atlanta, GA: US Army Corps of Engineers, South Atlantic Division, NEW SAVANNAH BLUFF LOCK AND DAM HAER No. GA-167 (Page 9) construction of two additional upstream projects at Hartwell (completed and Trotter Shoals (now R. B. Russell; completed The New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam was authorized for improving the commercial navigation channel between the upper limits of the Savannah Harbor and the head of navigation at Augusta, and by the mid-twentieth century, it had become a popular recreation spot as well. The Flood Control Act and the Federal Water Project Recreation Act had provided general provisions for recreation at Corps projects.
Authorized in the legislation, the upstream Clarks Hill project was the first Corps project to incorporate recreation into its master plan. By the and Congress required the Corps to develop comprehensive master plans for river basin development. Flood control projects quickly became multi-purpose projects, and in addition to hydropower, flood control, and navigation improvements, legislative authorization increasingly included provisions for recreation, enhancement of the fish and wildlife population, area redevelopment, water supply, and water quality.
This authorization for public uses of all Corps projects corresponded to increasing environmental awareness nationwide and a growing list of environmental legislation.30 As early as the the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam became a popular destination for boating and fishing, although the Corps did not implement a formal recreation plan until November The plan allowed for picnic tables, water fountains, restrooms, and a play meadow. News articles from the indicate the area was frequented by local residents. In alone, the lock and dam saw over visitors for sightseeing, fishing, picnicking, hiking, and bird watching.
At the same time, the Corps recorded only 225 lockages, which included both commercial and recreational craft.31 Despite the original intent of the City of Augusta and the Corps, the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam failed to generate anticipated commercial traffic, and barge traffic for oil and timber peaked during the The traffic, coupled with the Atomic Energy Commission s nearby Savannah River Plant in South Carolina, generated brief interest in a 12-foot channel. This would allow modern barges to travel upriver to a potential Savannah-Tennessee connective waterway.33 Neither the increased channel depth nor the interior waterway progressed beyond a cursory study by the Corps.
The Corps ceased operation of the lock for commercial navigation in and operation of the facility was carried out in conjunction with the multi-purpose J. Strom Thurmond project upstream. In the Corps leased the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam and the adjoining recreational areas to the City of Augusta. In the Corps studied the feasibility of removing the dam entirely. Local stakeholders, however, opposed the idea due to the dam s importance to fisherman and other recreational users. The Water Resources Development Act of authorized the Corps to transfer ownership and operation of the structure to the City of North Augusta and Aiken County, South Carolina, but no funds for 30 Barber and Gann, Savannah District, 31 Bill Baab.
Recreation Supplants Navigation at Lock, Dam, Augusta Chronicle, May 14, 32 Augusta Chronicle, The Savannah s Saga, January 30, 33 Granger, Savannah District, NEW SAVANNAH BLUFF LOCK AND DAM HAER No. GA-167 (Page 10) rehabilitation were ever allotted. The City of Augusta, Georgia, continues to maintain the acreage on the Georgia bank as a park. Part II. Structural/Design Information A. General Statement: 1. Character: The New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam is a surviving example of a Corps of Engineers lock and dam designs for small spans and shallow navigable depths. The vertical lift gates were the Corps preferred operational design of the but this was soon abandoned in favor of taintor-type gates. The miter lock gates were typical of low water lift requirements.
The general architectural character features a modernist aesthetic of smooth edges and largely unadorned concrete surfaces. This reflects the original vision of Paul Cret, hired by the Pittsburgh District to add his expertise to the plans. The operation building retains its original metal framed windows, metal doors, along with its minimal exterior details, such as the pilasters, frieze, and triglyphs. Beyond its engineering and architecture, the lock and dam also reflects the coordinated effort between the City of Augusta and the Corps of Engineers to improve the Savannah River s navigation for enhanced commercial and industrial traffic. It is also a local example of a New Deal PWA project to provide construction employment during the Great Depression. 2.
Condition of fabric: The New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam retains a high degree of architectural/engineering integrity. Physical changes to the lock and dam have been minimal since its completion in with some minor changes due to structural repair, routine maintenance, and operability. A secondary enclosure was added atop the operation building in the and equipment for remote operation was installed. None of these changes diminished the facility s ability to convey its original function as a typical Corps lock and dam of the B. Description:34 1. Lock Chamber: The lock chamber is located along the north (Georgia) abutment and measures 360 long and 56 wide with a 15 maximum lift height.
There are steel lock miter gates at each end of the chamber consisting of two leaves, hinging on pintle bearings, and recessed into the river and land walls. When closed, the gates measure 30 - 6 wide. The gates seal against a wooden timber on the miter sill, with miter timbers that 34 Technical specifications in sections B and C are generated from as-built engineering drawings on file with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, Savannah River Below Augusta: New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam. Operational details are largely derived from Savannah District, Savannah River, Georgia, Revised to October (Savannah, GA: U.S.
Engineer Office, and Savannah District, Manual for Operation and Maintenance of New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam, Savannah River, Georgia and South Carolina (Savannah, GA: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Other architectural and design details are derived from Butler et al., Cultural Resources Survey, NEW SAVANNAH BLUFF LOCK AND DAM HAER No. GA-167 (Page 11) seal against each other. A culvert runs lengthwise of each lock wall, opening into the lock chamber through a number of filling and emptying ports. To facilitate navigation through the lock, the structure consists of concrete guide walls extending both upstream and downstream from the main body of the lock chamber. In addition, there are four steel sheet piling bumper cells, three upstream, one downstream.
According to the engineering drawings, the floor of the lock chamber is paved with concrete and topped with 6 x 5 x 1 concrete block pavers. The upper end of the lock chamber contains an integrated lift gauge composed of ceramic mosaic tile. Due to structural instability with water undercutting the gates, the lock was closed for safety reasons in Renovations completed in cost of which was supplied by Augusta- Richmond County. 2. Dam and Gates: The dam measures 347 -6 long from the river face of the operation building to the river face of the South Carolina abutment. The entirety of the dam structure was constructed on wood piles, with an interlocking steel sheet pile wall driven to an impervious stratum of clay underneath the site.
The dam was classified as a movable type, meaning that water was discharged under the dam via the gates, rather than over a continuous concrete structure. This allowed for more efficient water regulation in a river prone to variable stages of low and high water. The gates sealed discharge along a horizontal concrete sill that stretched across the width of the river. A concrete apron extends more than fifty feet downstream. Containing baffle piers, this apron was designed to dissipate the water discharge, preventing turbulence and erosion. The dam proper, as distinguished from the lock, contains five 60-ton vertical lift-type gates (numbered 1 through 5), which were typical of Corps design of this period.
The gates are distributed between the operation building on the north and five concrete piers stretching the width of the river (Pier Nos. 1 through 4, and an abutment pier on the South Carolina bank). The piers employ the smooth, tapered design also reflected on the operation building. The upstream walls are rounded, with the downstream ends tapered. Span No. 1 measures 74 -6 wide and Spans 2-5 measures 72 wide. The dam also features a steel bridge or catwalk above the gates for use by the operators and maintenance crews. There are no functional aspects on the South Carolina side of the river beyond the south abutment. 3.
Operation Building: Located near the Georgia bank of the river, the operation building rises from the south guide wall of the lock and also serves as one of the integral gate piers. The operation building measures approximately 15 -2 in width, 28 -6 in height, 70 in length, and is faced with smooth concrete. The building features a curvilinear east (upstream) fa ade, while the west (downstream) fa ade, simulates the smooth tapered design of the gate piers. Windows are steel-framed, with casements framed by fixed lights. There are three door openings; the two on the lower floor include a pair of steel doors, with four fixed lights, and a single door of the same composition.
The second level also features a set of double doors, but there is no pedestrian landing, and original NEW SAVANNAH BLUFF LOCK AND DAM HAER No. GA-167 (Page 12) engineering drawings suggest the doors were designed to be barred from the exterior as they are today. The remainder of the building features little architectural detail except for the minimalized engaged Doric pilasters, frieze, and triglyphs. During the the Pittsburgh District employed French-born architect Paul Cret to assist in the superficial aspects of lock and dam architecture at a few of its projects, including New Savannah Bluff. While much smaller in scale than his other Corps projects, Cret s work at New Savannah Bluff employs a mixture of smooth, tapered edges of modern design.
His drawing featured deep window recesses and simple pilasters with no capital adornment, frieze, or triglyphs. However, the final Corps plans incorporated those more classical elements. A streamlined version of the rounded upstream form and downstream tapered edges of the operation building is employed on the gate piers. Cret s original design of the building also included lettering for New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam on the upstream fa ade; however, this was never incorporated. The interior included two functional levels, a basement, and roof access, with connecting stairs on the west (tapered) end of the building. The lower floor had a toilet room, enclosed with metal partitions, piping, and control valves.
The second floor contained an enclosed water tank and oil tank, 10-gallon gasoline tank for a backup electrical generation unit, and the gate gears. This represented the most critical equipment of the facility s operation and was situated on the second floor to be located above the highest recorded water mark. The roof, while generally flat, also included a hipped, metal-clad roof situated over the water and oil tanks on the second level, a design typical for sheltering mechanical and other building systems. A secondary enclosure was added adjacent to the penthouse. This enclosure probably dates to the and consists of a concrete block structure and a wood-framed roof and paired metal doors. This structure encloses the roof access from below. C.
Mechanicals/Operation: Operation of the lock and dam was originally controlled in the operation building, installed where the dam joins the lock. While initial plans called for localized hydroelectric generation to power the facility, final plans included power obtained through a local public service company.35 Emergency power could be generated by a stand-by gasoline-driven power unit installed in the building. Today, the gates are operated remotely. The lock was designed to provide a 9 clearance over the miter sills. The lock functions with two sets of miter gates, one set each on the upper and lower ends of the lock. There is a culvert running along each lock wall, opening into the lock chamber through a number of filling and emptying ports.
Just above the upper lock gate, there are two 8 x10 butterfly valves that control the flow of water into the culvert, one in each wall above the uppermost ports. Upstream from 35 The design and construction incorporated turbine pits at the basement level, but no generation units were ever installed. NEW SAVANNAH BLUFF LOCK AND DAM HAER No. GA-167 (Page 13) the valves are a number of intake ports opening into the culvert from the upper pool. Just above the lower lock gate, there are two additional butterfly valves for emptying the lock, and below them several ports allowing discharge into the lower pool. The butterfly valves and miter gates are hydraulically operated, and oil pressure is maintained by an electric pump in the operation building.
The dam was operated to maintain a relatively constant pool elevation at the dam by varying the gate openings with an increasing backwater effect on the rising stages, to the point where the elevation of the tailwater would be the same, or slightly less, than the elevation of the normal pool level. At this point, the gates would be raised completely clear of the water surface allowing open river conditions, except as modified by local swell head at the dam. Since the dam was non- navigable, it was necessary to pass navigation through the lock after the five gates had been raised clear of the water surface. During very high-water events, traffic could not pass the lock and dam since the lock walls and the lower floor of the operation building would be under water.
The five operable lift gates within the dam weigh approximately 60 tons each and are numbered 1 through 5 (north to south). Gates 1 and 5, set 2.5 lower than the inside gates, are overflow gates and designed to allow for passage of floating logs and other trash. Gates 2 through 4 are non-overflow gates and were designed for the river flow to pass beneath. As originally designed, all gates could be lifted on tracks for water discharge beneath them during high water events and were designed to have a maximum vertical lift of 34 above the concrete sill.
Each gates could be raised and lowered by chains pulled by two interlocked, but independent hoisting machines, one at each end of the gate, which worked to provide an even lift.36 Each also contained alternating current-directed thruster brakes. Automatic limit switches cut the current once the gates reached maximum height or lowered to the sill. As noted, these lift type gates were being employed by the Pittsburgh District during the D. Site Information: The New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam is located on the Savannah River at Mile approximately 13 miles downstream from the City of Augusta.
Construction began in and was completed in The lock and dam is situated on a federal reservation containing approximately 48 acres and consists of the lock chamber, dam and gates, and operator s building. The surrounding acreage consists of recreational space for fishing and picnicking. 36 In the spillway gates were repaired and the chain hoists replaced with a hydraulic system on Gates 2 and 3. See U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam Project, Savannah River, Georgia and South Carolina. Section 216 Disposition Study. Final Report, September 8, NEW SAVANNAH BLUFF LOCK AND DAM HAER No. GA-167 (Page 14) Part III. Sources of Information A. Primary
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