AFTER A DECADE OF WORK, THE LOCK SYSTEM ON THE FOX River is now mostly operational.
Lock No. 3 in Kaukauna was re-flooded last month for the first time in almost 30 years. Once a vital cog in the region’s transportation system, the Fox Locks were closed in the 1980s as maintenance costs grew.
The initial enthusiasm for reopening the system was dampened by the discovery of a round goby, an invasive species of fish, below the Neenah Dam. The Menasha Lock, which accesses Lake Winnebago, has been closed while the Department of Natural Resources investigates.
The effort to reopen the lock system began with the 2005 creation of the Fox River Navigational System Authority, charged with restoring and rebuilding the historic lock system on the Fox River. At that time, just three of the 17 locks were operational.
The Kaukauna Locks were restored by Boldt Construction Co. and CR Meyer. Repair of the 17 locks that make up the entire system took nearly 10 years and $14.5 million to complete. The Rapide Croche Lock will remain sealed to prevent invasive species from coming upstream.
The locks were originally built in the mid-to-late 1800s to make for easier navigation for the manufacturing industry. The river drops about the equivalent of Niagara Falls on its journey from Lake Winnebago to Green Bay.
