By Bruce Schreiner
The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE - Workers began repairing footlong cracks Wednesday to an Ohio River lock, and the project remains on track to be finished in two weeks, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said.

With no backup lock, the project will prevent barges from plying the entire length of the Ohio from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Ill.

The McAlpine lock was drained by Tuesday night of tens of millions of gallons of water, said corps spokeswoman Carol Baternik. The water was pumped into the river.

Work began first on the two downstream gates. Crews scrubbed the massive steel gates. Inspectors then wound along scaffolding to reach cracks near the bottom of the nearly 70-foot-high gates, Baternik said.

Workers started welding 1,000-pound steel plates over bigger cracks Wednesday to reinforce the gates, she said.

So far, the inspections had turned up no surprises, she said. "The corps divers did an excellent job in their preliminary inspections because we are finding and repairing exactly what the divers had assessed," she said.

Workers began cleaning the two upstream gates Wednesday, and the corps hoped inspectors could begin their work later in the day, she said.

More than 100 workers are involved. The work is continuing around the clock, with two crews on duty 12 hours each.

At this point, the corps still expects to reopen the lock on Aug. 22 as scheduled, Baternik said.

"That is very good news for our customers," said Chris Primm, marine superintendent with American Commercial Barge Line.

The project has not caused a logjam of barges along the busy waterway.

Only three tows - each with nine empty barges - had pulled up within a few miles of the lock as of Wednesday afternoon, Primm said.

Barge companies were notified in spring of the scheduled repairs.