 A summer day on the Allegheny River can be much like a day on a calm lake: Smooth, still water, refreshing breezes, fishermen on the shore, ducks and geese floating lazily . . . and the occasional passing line of barges-- Hold on! What? Okay, there is one significant difference. But this difference, the presence of commercial freight traffic, is possible for same reason that one can go trolling in a rowboat, paddle a flat-bottomed kayak, or even join a sculling team—navigation dams.
The Ohio, Monongahela, and Allegheny Rivers are subdivided by navigation dams (and lock systems which allow passage around the dams) into lake-like bodies of water called pools. The dams, along with periodic dredging, ensure that these pools are of adequate depth which is critical to commercial navigation, and at the same time make certain forms of water recreation possible.  Unlike “wild” rivers, such as the Youghiogheny, the Kiskiminetas, and the Beaver, which are great for activities like white-water rafting and fly-fishing, for example, the three larger rivers are tamed which allows for different kinds of recreation.
Prior to the construction of the first locks and dams in southwestern Pennsylvania in the mid-1880s, navigation on the rivers was unpredictable and risky because of shifting sand bars, snags and rocks, and seasonally fluctuating water depths. Even Lewis & Clark in 1803 had to portage their boats on several occasions due to “riffles” and low water on the Ohio River at places like McKees Rocks, the lower end of Neville Island, and near the Beaver River, to name a few.
By the early 1900s, the 17 locks and dams in the Port of Pittsburgh district were in place. Some of them have been replaced or rebuilt, but almost all of them are well past their 50-year life expectancies and are deteriorating rapidly. Some are  more than 80 years old and are in dire need of replacement.
With costs spiraling and economies tightening, these kinds of projects are naturally prioritized according to heaviest use. The Allegheny River, which tends to be more attractive to recreational users because it sees far less commercial traffic and is also cleaner, has eight locks and dams that must be operated and maintained. Unfortunately, the dwindling commercial traffic on this river can have an adverse impact on recreational use, such as pleasure boating, in that some of the locks on the upper reaches are being targeted for possible permanent closure (currently they operate on a seasonal and/or call-ahead basis). With the locks closed and the dams remaining in place, the pools would be isolated from one another.
Pittsburgh is the second busiest inland river port in the nation. Barge tows that move through the port district pass through an average of three locks. There are nearly 75,000 pleasure boats registered in the Port district counties. The Port of Pittsburgh Commission continually lobbies the federal government for funding to maintain and rebuild the aging lock and dam infrastructure. Its mission is to promote the commercial use and development of the inland waterway-intermodal transportation system and to integrate that system into the economic, recreational, environmental and intermodal future of the residents and industries of southwestern Pennsylvania.
By sponsoring the river recreation areas of Walls Are Bad, the Port of Pittsburgh Commission hopes to educate recreational users of the rivers to the importance of the locks and dams and how they benefit the residents of Southwestern PA culturally as well as economically. To learn more about the Port of Pittsburgh, visit www.port.pittsburgh.pa.us.
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