By John Byczkowski
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The closing of a vital Ohio River lock at Louisville may be rescheduled to reduce its impact on business, the Army Corps of Engineers said Friday.

The corps said this week it would shut the McAlpine lock and dam for repairs for two weeks beginning Aug. 3. But at a meeting Thursday in Louisville, the corps heard businesses complain that the short notice gives them little time to plan.

A corps spokesman said the new dates could be Aug. 9-22.

A final decision will likely be announced Tuesday.

The corps recently discovered a 6-inch crack in one of the huge metal doors of the 43-year-old McAlpine lock.

About 14 barge tows pass through the locks every day. Last year 56 million tons of freight passed through McAlpine, and that's expected to grow to 71 million tons by 2010.

The most common commodities shipped on the river are petroleum, crude materials such as gravel and iron ore, and coal.

Businesses complaining about the closure include chemical plants in Ohio and West Virginia, who said the short notice wouldn't give them time to lay in the stocks of raw materials they need, said Pete Frick, operations director for the corps in Louisville.

Gallatin Steel near Warsaw, Ky., ships steel by barge. "We at this point just don't have a good feel" for how the closure will affect the plant, said Cathy Hanley, general manager for human resources there.

The Delta Queen Steamboat Co. said closing McAlpine Aug. 3-16 would affect seven scheduled pleasure cruises. One is the 43-day Heart of America Discovery tour, for which 43 passengers paid up to $20,000.

"It affects us to the tune of a couple of million dollars," said Karen Hales, director of public relations for Delta Queen. The proposed new dates, by contrast, would affect just one scheduled cruise.

A replacement lock is under construction. The $350 million project, begun in 1996, is scheduled for completion in 2008.

E-mail johnb@enquirer.com