What happens when you shut down parts of a major navigable waterway for nearly four months? Illinois farmers are about to find out.
 
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced that in 2020, it will close or restrict six of the eight lock and dam sites on the Illinois River to make necessary repairs, including the LaGrange Lock and Dam, Versailles; Peoria Lock and Dam, Creve Coeur; Starved Rock Lock and Dam, Ottawa; Marseilles Lock and Dam, Marseilles; Dresden Island Lock and Dam, Morris; and Brandon Road Lock and Dam, Joliet. Each of the eight lock and dam sites on the Illinois river are between 80 and 90 years old and overdue for significant repairs.
 
The Corps has scheduled the closures simultaneously to lessen the impact on commercial navigation, and chose the July-to-October time period to avoid harvest season and the historical spring flooding season.
 
“Our preference is to do it all in one year, rather than close a lock a year for several years. We’d like to consolidate efforts into
 
 a single year,” says Matt Coffelt, program manager for the Corps’ Rock Island District and head of what the Corps is calling the Illinois Waterway Consolidated Closures.
 
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