Upper Mississippi River 9-Foot Channel, Lock & Dam No. 10, Guttenberg, Clayton County, IA

Significance: The Upper Mississippi River Lock and Dam Project represents one of the largest and most ambitious of such undertakings. With roots in the Progressive Era, the project was adopted by New Deal proponents to serve the needs of public employment during the Great Depression. Its successful completion turned the upper reaches of one of the world's largest rivers into an intra-continental canal and settled the questions of a fully navigable interior river system through the Midwest. Completion of the system helped allay economic inequities in commercial rail and water freight rates brought about as a result of the opening of the Panama Canal. Although significantly altering the environment of the upper Mississippi, the project also served as an impetus for the upgrading of municipal drinking water and sewage disposal systems, as well as providing new recreational opportunities, thus, in the end, proving beneficial to public welfare.

Survey number: HAER IA-22

Building/structure dates: 1937 Initial Construction

navigation dams guttenberg upper mississippi upper mississippi river channel lock dam clayton clayton county mississippi river iowa historic american engineering record us army corps of engineers photo ultra high resolution high resolution historic american landscapes survey historic american buildings survey river system industrial history library of congress

1937 - 1980

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/

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