Ok, so let me do some actual reporting here for CBS Pittsburg. This is Dam #3 on the Monongahela River. It was built to MAINTAIN the navigability of the river, and not for power generation or to INCREASE the size of the "lake". As such, its a very low head dam. Its just there so that during dry spells the water doesn't all just run down stream. Dam 2 and dam 4 are 17 miles apart as the crow flies, but its 13 miles between 2 and 3 along the river, and 17 miles between 3 and 4 the same way. In that distance the river drops a mere 30 feet (highside bank of 4 to lowside bank of 2) Removing Dam 3 is predicted to raise the water level below #3 by 2 feet, and lower the water level above 3 by 3.2 feet, but clearly the docks here have lost more than 3.2 feet. Why? Well, what do you do before you remove a dam? You drain the water!. So in this case, they are retaining water behind #4, and releasing it at #2 so that the water level is safe for the people and equipment at #3 As i type this, the "gage height" of the river above lock 3 (Monongahela River at Elizabeth, PA - 03075070) is 7.01ft, with a normal low for this season overall being approx 10.4 ft. This means that the water level is exactly what it was expected to be. This project was expected to be DONE before a single one of these boats were in the water for the season, but apparently when that didn't happen they put the docks back in their original location and let everyone park their boats there again. This dock that was already in shallow enough water that boats berthed on the shore side had to park PARALLEL with the dock. This Isnt a mistake on the part of the city / town/ county / state / army corp / demolition team or anyone on the planning side in general. The current conditions of the river are EXACTLY what they predicted them to be with the removal of dam #3. The mistake was made by the marina for not moving the docks out 20 feet, and by the boat owners for not realizing their boats were to big for the result that was coming. BTW, if you pause at the 58 second mark, the husbands markings on the railing are actually where the water met the land for the aforementioned gage height of the river, thats what 9.35 and 9 mean. confirming my earlier statements about 10.4 being the normal low (grass line) and 7.01 being the new current low.
This is 100% accurate. The marina owners knew this was coming and didn't spend money to fix the problem before it happened. The marina where I am a member raised their rates 40% this year and have done nothing to fix their issues. The biggest failure by the Corp of Engineers is not fixing the public boat ramps before the dam demolition. Every public ramp is unusable with maybe the exception being Monessen.
@nicholastrawinsk...you said this? ... The mistake was made by the marina for not moving the docks out 20 feet, I agree AND by the boat owners for not realizing their boats were to big for the result that was coming. SO, the boat owners are also made the "mistake" of purchasing a boat to large? Even though when they purchased a boat years ago that boat was just fine? hmmm, So I guess they should have known what was coming years in the future?
@@harryberry474 the demolition of the dam was planned for last winter, and the results of that work had been calculated already, AND were public knowledge. So yes, marinas fault the dock wasnt moved, and boat owners fault they kept their boats there.
What a dumbed-down report, seems to be the norm these days. Zero depth on background, pool levels, etc. Just goes and finds somebody with a boat. So you think that removal of a dam MIGHT start to lower levels? What a concept. Made for the 30 sec TikTok crowd = fail.
Couldnt possibly be the drought/abnormally dry conditions that just over 2/3 of the state is under. Hmmm, i wonder what it could be. Water equalization after the dam removal couldnt be part of it either. Real big mystery here. These people should hire scooby and the gang. Those kids might be able to figure it out.
You are 100% wrong about it having to do with a drought. The pool above lock 3 was going to drop 3.2 feet after the demolition. At the time of this report the river still needs to drop about another 6 inches. Even if we had normal rain fall the river was going to drop 3.2 feet.
They're surprised it's taking so long, not that the water went away. Leaving their docks and boats where they were is on them. This project's been in the works for years.
I`m in Washington State and we have removed several dams and are in the process of restoring our rivers as best we can. yes your lake is gone but the river is free. You`re not that special.
I never understood why the rivers in Pittsburgh have locks and low head dams. No engineer, but would it be better if they did not have them? To ke it seems it would increase recreational boaters and allow more freedom for the rivers to be explored.
They are removing the dam to save time, fuel and money by not having to lock at Elizabeth. It's a win all around. These people knew the Corp was removing the project and it was communicated to the public that water would lower in point A and raise in point B. This was known well before demolition. The marina didn't move the docks or request dredging to keep their marina open and useful. The media is grossly incompetent for not reporting the actual facts. BTW that project is over a century old. It's served it's time
it's more of entitled people, they feel they have more right to have fun on the river than nature has a right to exist. dams are destroying fish populations etc. they just have to come out if we want to fish for the next few hundred years. they new the damn was going, they should've gotten their boats out before the blast. they just didnt.
In charge of the TV station you mean? Everybody knew the century old obsolete dam was being removed. What the heck did they think would happen. Sorry but the result is one less lock to get through the river system and river closer to how God intended letting fish do their thing
It would of been obvious too anybody that the dam was put there too back the water up and the level on one side is different then on the other side by many many feet. So what is the problem. This is not a mess up but a controlled demolition of a very old Dam. Like whatdid you expect? The water too stay the same?
SO remove old out dated dam to build an updated one, people complain the water is too low, so now rush a new dam that will be basically half-assed, got it.
Most of the comments here are dismaying. Yes, the damage done to the river, by putting in the dam, is finally being repaired. Boating isn't as important as the health of the river.
The comments on here are from uninformed people. Every marina owner has known for years that lock 3 was eventually going to be demolished, this project has been ongoing since the 90's. The issue is that there was no money allocated in the project to help private marinas with the costs to for repairs to their marinas caused by the lowering of the river. There is money in the project budget to pay for the repair of all public boat ramps. The Corp has not fixed any of the 5 public ramps yet and they don't have any schedule to have the repairs done. This is poor planning by the Corp of Engineers, they had years to have the boat ramps fixed and now there is only 1 ramp that may be usable. The recreational boaters, fisherman, and private marina owners are the ones feeling the adverese effects of the dam remival.
@@moljinar in places where there isn’t an active boating or recreation group, 100% but not where it’ll negatively effect the local economy. In my hometown I supported removing a dam
What a great idea, done with the best of intentions, what could possibly go wrong? For one thing it might be Murphy’s Law. What can go wrong? We’ll go wrong at the worst possible moment. Tell me who’s involved in this, let me guess it’s the government and the environmentalist.. The question is, what is the cost going to be as a result of what they’ve done for the people who have boats there? What are the long-term consequences, does anyone know? They think they know, but if they’re wrong, who will be held responsible for this, the answer is no one, and they will propose another solution which will cost more money. Remember whether you like it or not, you voted for this.
100 years... It's time for it to go. It's a bummer for that one restaurant but when the interstate system bypass my current town in the early 70s most of the bigger businesses closed down and ppl moved away. If that restaurant is good it WILL go on but they will need to dig out a harbor to be able to have a marina again. Plus, I can't feel bad for wealthy retired ppl. They can sail their boat down the river to where the water is now deeper where maybe a new marina can kick off
I don’t understand your comment. What does “environmental wackos” have to do with the water level? The Elizabeth dam is not being removed for environmental reasons. The removal is 100% financial.
@@sbart412 your comment makes no sense. Why would dam removal be 'financial'. Dam removal across pa has been a thing for years, and it is always for environmental reasons I agree, with the origional comment. You got what you voted for, enviros
@@Netcentric-fk6ekIt's not being removed for environmental reasons. You sound like a bot trying to stir chit. It's being removed so that boats can move freely up and down the river without using the lock system. I imagine this includes barges and not just recreational boat traffic. They are also claiming that it's going to raise the river levels between certain areas. Pretty easy to find articles on this.
@@Netcentric-fk6ek You have no idea what your talking about. You need to look up "Lower Mon Project". This has been a 30 year project and removing the Elizabeth Locks and Dam was the last part of this project. The dam was built in 1907 and had a 50 year lifespan. The locks were failing and causing major issues for commercial traffic. The project added gates to the Braddock dam and improved / enlarged the locks at Braddock and also Charleroi. By removing the Elizabeth dam, barges now have a 30 mile pool and don't need to stop at Elizabeth. This will save them money in time and fuel.
@@Netcentric-fk6ek In this instance, it is financial. According to another report, removal of the dam reduces the delays that barge traffic expeerience when they have to pass throught the locks. Other users of the waterway won't have to pass through the locks when all is said and done. The delays are caused by time to fill and drain a lock (about an hour) and delays also experienced during large "water events" (called flooding) that causes the locks to be closed to all water traffic. $200m positive economic impact due to reduced time delays and maintenance cost of the locks after the dam is removed and the locks are no longer needed. The report doesn't address seven other locks and dams further upstream.
Yes, our Failing infrastructure, our Failing electrical grid, And poorly maintained roadways need to be Built back better. Currently, our infrastructure is borderline Third World country
![What We Discovered Buried Shocked The Whole World❌ [ Strange Treasure Hunt By Metal Detector ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/69DWIyHfX3k/mqdefault.jpg)
Ok, so let me do some actual reporting here for CBS Pittsburg. This is Dam #3 on the Monongahela River. It was built to MAINTAIN the navigability of the river, and not for power generation or to INCREASE the size of the "lake". As such, its a very low head dam. Its just there so that during dry spells the water doesn't all just run down stream.
Dam 2 and dam 4 are 17 miles apart as the crow flies, but its 13 miles between 2 and 3 along the river, and 17 miles between 3 and 4 the same way. In that distance the river drops a mere 30 feet (highside bank of 4 to lowside bank of 2) Removing Dam 3 is predicted to raise the water level below #3 by 2 feet, and lower the water level above 3 by 3.2 feet, but clearly the docks here have lost more than 3.2 feet. Why?
Well, what do you do before you remove a dam? You drain the water!. So in this case, they are retaining water behind #4, and releasing it at #2 so that the water level is safe for the people and equipment at #3
As i type this, the "gage height" of the river above lock 3 (Monongahela River at Elizabeth, PA - 03075070) is 7.01ft, with a normal low for this season overall being approx 10.4 ft. This means that the water level is exactly what it was expected to be.
This project was expected to be DONE before a single one of these boats were in the water for the season, but apparently when that didn't happen they put the docks back in their original location and let everyone park their boats there again. This dock that was already in shallow enough water that boats berthed on the shore side had to park PARALLEL with the dock.
This Isnt a mistake on the part of the city / town/ county / state / army corp / demolition team or anyone on the planning side in general. The current conditions of the river are EXACTLY what they predicted them to be with the removal of dam #3. The mistake was made by the marina for not moving the docks out 20 feet, and by the boat owners for not realizing their boats were to big for the result that was coming.
BTW, if you pause at the 58 second mark, the husbands markings on the railing are actually where the water met the land for the aforementioned gage height of the river, thats what 9.35 and 9 mean. confirming my earlier statements about 10.4 being the normal low (grass line) and 7.01 being the new current low.
Dam good explanation, Nicholas. 👍
This is 100% accurate. The marina owners knew this was coming and didn't spend money to fix the problem before it happened. The marina where I am a member raised their rates 40% this year and have done nothing to fix their issues. The biggest failure by the Corp of Engineers is not fixing the public boat ramps before the dam demolition. Every public ramp is unusable with maybe the exception being Monessen.
Thank you for the info. As usual the news doesn't report the whole story.
@nicholastrawinsk...you said this? ... The mistake was made by the marina for not moving the docks out 20 feet, I agree AND by the boat owners for not realizing their boats were to big for the result that was coming. SO, the boat owners are also made the "mistake" of purchasing a boat to large? Even though when they purchased a boat years ago that boat was just fine? hmmm, So I guess they should have known what was coming years in the future?
@@harryberry474 the demolition of the dam was planned for last winter, and the results of that work had been calculated already, AND were public knowledge.
So yes, marinas fault the dock wasnt moved, and boat owners fault they kept their boats there.
Ah you blow up the dam so of course the water level is going to drop. Am i missing something here?
No your right on the money. Water level is just returning to where it was before the dam was built.
They were warned 15 years ago that this would happen.
Old people don't care about such things.
We live in a society where very few understand how everyday things in our lives actually work. Especially true for those that deliver the news.
This is crazy they should have known you removed a 6’ dam and said the water would equalize? Idiots
What a dumbed-down report, seems to be the norm these days.
Zero depth on background, pool levels, etc. Just goes and finds somebody with a boat.
So you think that removal of a dam MIGHT start to lower levels? What a concept.
Made for the 30 sec TikTok crowd = fail.
Do they not understand how dams work?
"How will I enjoy my 2nd home and my extra boat?" Is what I heard.
Couldnt possibly be the drought/abnormally dry conditions that just over 2/3 of the state is under. Hmmm, i wonder what it could be. Water equalization after the dam removal couldnt be part of it either. Real big mystery here. These people should hire scooby and the gang. Those kids might be able to figure it out.
You are 100% wrong about it having to do with a drought. The pool above lock 3 was going to drop 3.2 feet after the demolition. At the time of this report the river still needs to drop about another 6 inches. Even if we had normal rain fall the river was going to drop 3.2 feet.
Whenever something doesn't make sense, it's because there's a lie in it.
They're surprised it's taking so long, not that the water went away. Leaving their docks and boats where they were is on them. This project's been in the works for years.
I`m in Washington State and we have removed several dams and are in the process of restoring our rivers as best we can. yes your lake is gone but the river is free. You`re not that special.
There was a time… when there was no lake… it was a river
I never understood why the rivers in Pittsburgh have locks and low head dams. No engineer, but would it be better if they did not have them? To ke it seems it would increase recreational boaters and allow more freedom for the rivers to be explored.
If we had no dams you would be able to walk across the rivers at certain places. No dams mean no commercial barge traffic.
Commercial shipping with actual ships/barges would be the reason for all canals and other water ways that have locks
There is nothing our army corps of engineers cannot f,k up for enormous amounts of money.
They are removing the dam to save time, fuel and money by not having to lock at Elizabeth. It's a win all around. These people knew the Corp was removing the project and it was communicated to the public that water would lower in point A and raise in point B. This was known well before demolition. The marina didn't move the docks or request dredging to keep their marina open and useful. The media is grossly incompetent for not reporting the actual facts.
BTW that project is over a century old. It's served it's time
Poor humans have to suffer with their money they poorly spent.
I’m sorry , but wouldn’t someone have seen a connection? The decision makers had see this effect was probably gonna happen ,but no one cared.
it's more of entitled people, they feel they have more right to have fun on the river than nature has a right to exist. dams are destroying fish populations etc. they just have to come out if we want to fish for the next few hundred years. they new the damn was going, they should've gotten their boats out before the blast. they just didnt.
It has been very dry here, so there's also a drought happening. Was the water lowering before the blast?
I have boated this section for over 20 years. During the worst droughts the river might drop a few feet. This is caused by the dam removal.
@@sbart412 bummer 😞 That is really sad news.
This has nothing to do with the drought, the river was going down 3.2 feet no matter what, it isn't even at its final level yet.
@@ripler16 yeah I looked at the river gauge in that area and it is definitely not related to the drought. Thank you.
@musicalchairs56 Yep final level will be 723.7 feet above sea level.
This is what happens when you put stupid people in charge .
In charge of the TV station you mean? Everybody knew the century old obsolete dam was being removed. What the heck did they think would happen. Sorry but the result is one less lock to get through the river system and river closer to how God intended letting fish do their thing
Should’ve sold when you were told dam was to be removed.Did they say Five years ago???
It would of been obvious too anybody that the dam was put there too back the water up and the level on one side is different then on the other side by many many feet. So what is the problem. This is not a mess up but a controlled demolition of a very old Dam. Like whatdid you expect? The water too stay the same?
SO remove old out dated dam to build an updated one, people complain the water is too low, so now rush a new dam that will be basically half-assed, got it.
Imagine that, you take out a dam and the upstream water goes down.
Was that a hippo??
1:23 that was one of el chapos hippos
lmao a river otter
The lack of water made the hippos smaller.
Beavopotimus
How many months?
Most of the comments here are dismaying. Yes, the damage done to the river, by putting in the dam, is finally being repaired. Boating isn't as important as the health of the river.
@@guest6423 This dam removal is for boat traffic. They've had to add in habitats for the fish.
The power of being wants to control the water.
Poking a hole in a water containment will cause the water to leave the containment... Whuuut?
I grew up on the Mississippi in Dubuque IA. The army core turned that part of the river to Barge traffic only. The rest is silted full.
Whining about the water going down … those weirs and dams are causing river troubles, remove now or they collapse later.
Where there was water will be no more.
Government incompetence. The Core of engineers hired political science majors as engineers.
Government job.
The comments on here are from uninformed people. Every marina owner has known for years that lock 3 was eventually going to be demolished, this project has been ongoing since the 90's. The issue is that there was no money allocated in the project to help private marinas with the costs to for repairs to their marinas caused by the lowering of the river. There is money in the project budget to pay for the repair of all public boat ramps. The Corp has not fixed any of the 5 public ramps yet and they don't have any schedule to have the repairs done. This is poor planning by the Corp of Engineers, they had years to have the boat ramps fixed and now there is only 1 ramp that may be usable. The recreational boaters, fisherman, and private marina owners are the ones feeling the adverese effects of the dam remival.
There be gonna go out of business
Somebody gots paid
Bring the salmon back
🍼🍼
Drought this summer
You do stupid things, you win stupid prizes.
Like supporting trump.
Keep voting #Democrat 🤷♂️
ALOT OF IGNORANT PEOPLE MAKING HORRIBLE DECISIONS...WE HAVE THE WORST OF THE WORST IN PA Must be the DEI hires!
Boo-hoo
Feel so sorry for the boaters
Explosions are not controlled, that's why they are called explosions.
So dumb to take away dams
Stop removing dams just because some non local group comes to town and tells you to remove the dam in your town!!
Yeah. Stop putting the river back to its natural state.
@@moljinar in places where there isn’t an active boating or recreation group, 100% but not where it’ll negatively effect the local economy. In my hometown I supported removing a dam
@dogguy7705 lmao no it was not
What a great idea, done with the best of intentions, what could possibly go wrong? For one thing it might be Murphy’s Law. What can go wrong? We’ll go wrong at the worst possible moment. Tell me who’s involved in this, let me guess it’s the government and the environmentalist.. The question is, what is the cost going to be as a result of what they’ve done for the people who have boats there? What are the long-term consequences, does anyone know? They think they know, but if they’re wrong, who will be held responsible for this, the answer is no one, and they will propose another solution which will cost more money. Remember whether you like it or not, you voted for this.
Government speed up? Ha ha ha, yeah, right. Those people do as little as possible every day all day.
Keep voting Democrat and you'll get more of this "progress".
Our new DEI Army Corps of Engineers.
nahh they have always been trash
100 years... It's time for it to go. It's a bummer for that one restaurant but when the interstate system bypass my current town in the early 70s most of the bigger businesses closed down and ppl moved away. If that restaurant is good it WILL go on but they will need to dig out a harbor to be able to have a marina again. Plus, I can't feel bad for wealthy retired ppl. They can sail their boat down the river to where the water is now deeper where maybe a new marina can kick off
This is what happens when environmental wacko's get power.
I don’t understand your comment. What does “environmental wackos” have to do with the water level? The Elizabeth dam is not being removed for environmental reasons. The removal is 100% financial.
@@sbart412 your comment makes no sense. Why would dam removal be 'financial'. Dam removal across pa has been a thing for years, and it is always for environmental reasons
I agree, with the origional comment. You got what you voted for, enviros
@@Netcentric-fk6ekIt's not being removed for environmental reasons. You sound like a bot trying to stir chit. It's being removed so that boats can move freely up and down the river without using the lock system. I imagine this includes barges and not just recreational boat traffic. They are also claiming that it's going to raise the river levels between certain areas. Pretty easy to find articles on this.
@@Netcentric-fk6ek You have no idea what your talking about. You need to look up "Lower Mon Project". This has been a 30 year project and removing the Elizabeth Locks and Dam was the last part of this project. The dam was built in 1907 and had a 50 year lifespan. The locks were failing and causing major issues for commercial traffic. The project added gates to the Braddock dam and improved / enlarged the locks at Braddock and also Charleroi. By removing the Elizabeth dam, barges now have a 30 mile pool and don't need to stop at Elizabeth. This will save them money in time and fuel.
@@Netcentric-fk6ek In this instance, it is financial. According to another report, removal of the dam reduces the delays that barge traffic expeerience when they have to pass throught the locks. Other users of the waterway won't have to pass through the locks when all is said and done. The delays are caused by time to fill and drain a lock (about an hour) and delays also experienced during large "water events" (called flooding) that causes the locks to be closed to all water traffic. $200m positive economic impact due to reduced time delays and maintenance cost of the locks after the dam is removed and the locks are no longer needed. The report doesn't address seven other locks and dams further upstream.
Bidens build back better.
Yes, our Failing infrastructure, our Failing electrical grid, And poorly maintained roadways need to be Built back better. Currently, our infrastructure is borderline Third World country
the army corps of engineers has been trash since day one lol
Keep voting democrat... Hahaha!
TRUMP 2024❤️🤍💙
Yes, we will. Thank you.
the army corps of engineers has been trash since day one lol
@@festungkurland9804 you’re definitely a Kamala supporter!
Biden’s Army Corps of Engineers.
Kamala is even worse!
the army corps of engineers has been trash since day one lol
@@festungkurland9804 Go ahead and vote for Kamala, you obviously hate this country and want to destroy it.
Yes Biden invented the corps and appointed everyone in it. I see you have the same brain capacity as the rest of your kind.
TRUMP 2024❤️🤍💙
Was that a hippo lmao
Just shows that the media thinks everyone is stupid....