Sunday, January 25, 2004

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Most people would be humbled -- frightened even -- by the view from the top of the Emsworth Dam. That's serious whitewater churning up the river some three stories below. Lockmaster Chris Johnson, however, finds a certain solitude in the thunderous sound of the Ohio River as it crashes through the dam's eight concrete gates.

"Everything looks so small from up there," he says. "To me, it's a place where I can get my thoughts together."

As for the day-to-day operation of the locks and dams, which Johnson runs for the Army Corp of Engineers, well, that's anything but peaceful. Open 24/7, the 83-year-old facility is nearly always bustling with activity.

And in recent years, there have been matters other than workday responsibilities weighing on Johnson's peace of mind. Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, Emsworth and sites like it are viewed as potential targets.

Should two or more of the dam's gates be destroyed, the flow of commerce along this highly traveled Ohio River would abruptly shut down.

"You'd be able to walk across the river at the Point" during certain seasons, Johnson says.

Now, when the terror alert level is the equivalent of orange in the nation's color-coded system (a standard developed by the Force Protection Level for government facilities), the long tunnel meant to lead visitors under the railroad tracks to an open platform along the river is padlocked shut and security cameras follow every move. Even schoolchildren must submit their names and Social Security numbers for a background check before a guided tour. When the alert level is the equivalent of yellow, the tunnel to the observation deck remains open during normal weather conditions.

The Emsworth Lock and Dam hasn't been at yellow since 9/11. It's currently at orange-plus.

The limited access is troubling because the facility was built so that Johnson, the dam's head honcho since 1996, could welcome members of the community into his world.

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Here, man harnesses nature to keep water traffic moving along the 24-mile "pool" that flows from just below Emsworth to Lock 2 at Braddock on the Monongahela and Lock 2 at Highland Park on the Allegheny. That means the water level must be a steady 16 to 17 feet deep. Maintenance of the massive lock-and-dam structure, which opened in 1921 and stretches across the river to Neville Island (where there are five more gates), is another responsibility. But Johnson and his staff of 20 also are in charge of ensuring that the thousands of commercial and pleasure craft that travel this stretch of the Ohio each year "lock" safely through the facility's two lock chambers. Given that these giant concrete boxes handle about 24 million tons of cargo a year, that's no small thing.

One morning might find the former Marine overseeing a maintenance crew as they clear snow off the walls that separate the lock chambers or as they use jackhammers to chip any ice that's built up on the sides. In warmer months, you might catch Johnson supervising workers as they pressure-wash and lubricate the giant metal chains that lift and lower the 60,000-pound dam gates, according to an hourly hydrology schedule, 1 foot per minute.

"It's like running a house. You try to keep everything as functional as possible," he explains as he walks across a narrow walkway that runs along the top of a chamber gate. He pulls his bright-orange Stearns float coat a tad closer to ward off the mid-January cold.

The Alabama native, 48, also helps keep track of all the boats and their commodities, makes sure his staff adheres to the facility's stringent safety procedures and investigates any accidents that occur on site. (Accidents on the river, conversely, are referred to the city's River Rescue unit.)

"It's exciting because no two days are alike," he says.

Unlike many lock masters, Johnson didn't grow up on the water, and he certainly didn't plan a career around it.

"I didn't even know about locks and dams until about 1980," he confesses with a chuckle.

But once he signed on in 1983 as a lock operator at Lock and Dam 7 on the Allegheny River at Kittanning, he grew to love the navigational side of the corps and quickly climbed the ranks. He started working in Emsworth in 1995 as an assistant lockmaster.

Designed to be community-friendly, the facility is within easy walking distance of the river communities of Emsworth and Ben Avon. Boat lovers and the simply curious used to be able to watch river traffic, dawn to dusk, from an observation deck on the roof of the administration building.

Like most things in the United States, that's changed since 9/11. But the task of keeping river traffic flowing never ebbs.

Creating the locks and dams so that people have a cheap and easy way of moving commodities, says Johnson, "is the best thing the Pittsburgh area ever did."

Gretchen McKay can be reached at gmckay@post-gazette.com or 412-761-4670. Steve Mellon can be reached at smellon@post-gazette.com.

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