A lock and dam system was designed and built in the 1930's to improve commerce on the Mississippi.

The lock and dams were designed, built, and are maintained by the Army Corp of Engineers.

There are 29 lock and dams on the Upper Mississippi River allowing for navigation from Cairo, IL to Saint Paul, Minnesota a total distance of 854 miles.

In times of drought, before the dams were built, you could walk across parts of the Upper Mississippi.

The lock and dams maintain a minimum water depth of 9 foot, allowing for navigation even in a dry year.

The locks act like an elevator to raise or lower your boat from the water level on one side of the dam to the level on the other side.

The lock at L & D 7, the first one north of our home port, has a lift of 7-8 feet. It takes 3.6 million gallons of water to raise or lower your boat this amount.

There is no charge to go through the locks.

To learn more check out our
River Trivia page

Huck,

I believe I can speak for the others in expressing what a terrific time we all had on our recent adventure....Your entire staff deserves a lot of credit for making the event so enjoyable, and one at least I'm very anxious to repeat, and soon....

Again please thank everyone involved for a GREAT week....

Regards, Dick :-)

To learn more check out our
Customer Comments Page