The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, awards a contract for major construction repairs at the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

The contract for more than $2.8 million to replace MacArthur Lock embedded anchorages was awarded to Morrish-Wallace Construction Inc., of Cheboygan, Mich., (d.b.a.) Ryba Marine Construction.

Ryba Marine will replace crucial aging and deteriorating infrastructure at the Soo Locks, the St. Marys River navigational locks, in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. This contract involves removing existing gate anchorages, then fabricating and installing new embedded gate anchorages behind the existing embedded gate anchorages and the connection to the lock gate leaf. The work includes constructing new primary and secondary embedded anchorages for operating Gate 5 of the MacArthur Lock.

“This is an important investment that will help buy down risk on the aging MacArthur Lock,” said Lt. Col. Dennis Sugrue, district engineer. “The MacArthur Lock accommodates smaller vessels on the Great Lakes and takes pressure off the Poe Lock through which the vast majority of our commodities move.”

The work will be performed during the annual winter maintenance shutdown of the Soo Locks facility from January to mid-March 2018 with the project completion by June 2018.

The MacArthur Lock was built in 1943 and has a length of 800 feet between the sills, a width of 80 feet, and a depth of 31 feet.

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.

For more details, contact Melissa Bosman, project manager, at (313) 226-7855, or Lynn Rose, public affairs officer, (313)-226-4680.