Mississippi Valley Division (the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) Commanding General Maj. Gen. Kimberly Peeples visited Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet, Illinois, yesterday.
During the tour, the USACE officials learned more about the Brandon Road Interbasin Project (BRIP) and get an up close view of some of the site prep currently ongoing for the project, the Corps said.
The most significant piece of the site prep is excavation of bedrock within the lower channel.
Using an underwater jackhammer called a “ripper” (the largest of it’s kind in the United States), the bedrock is being broken up and then removed to make way for the engineered channel.
According to USACE, this action is part of a complex ecosystem protection effort designed to prevent upstream movement of invasive carp and other aquatic nuisance species into the Great Lakes from the Illinois Waterway.