Lock and Dam No. 2

The first lock and dam to be built on the Mississippi was also called Lock and Dam No. 2. See Meeker Island Lock and Dam.

Lock and Dam No. 2 is located along the Upper Mississippi River near Hastings, Minnesota and was originally built in 1907. The eastern dam portion is 722 feet (220 m) wide and has 19 tainter gates. A hydroelectric station that produces about 4.4 megawatts is owned by the city of Hastings, while the 110 × 600 foot (34 × 183 m) lock is operated by the St. Paul district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Mississippi Valley Division. There's also a wide earthen dam on the western side of the facility.

Following construction, the original lock walls settled and began to lean out of alignment, so a replacement lock was built. It was finished in 1948. A rehabilitation phase ran from 1987 to 1995. In 2009, Lock and Dam No. 2 became home to the nation's first commercial, Federally-licensed hydrokinetic power facility, which is a partnership between the City of Hastings and Hydro Green Energy, LLC of Westmont, IL.

External links

• USACE St. Paul District: Lock and Dam No. 2
• Google Maps: Lock and Dam No. 2
• USGS, Locks 1 through 13