LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – All locks on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System are now open 24 hours a day, seven days a week until further notice. Because of the government shutdown and furloughs the Army Corps of Engineers, Little Rock District is temporarily suspending its recreational lockage policy at all Arkansas River locks.
“At this time, our maintenance staff is furloughed and will only be recalled to duty if we have a critical repair need,” said Little Rock’s Chief of Operations’ John Balgavy. “If the government shutdown continues, we will need to recall our maintenance staff to perform preventive maintenance. When that happens, we’ll likely reinstate the recreational lock closure policy.”
The recreational lockage policy designates four hours a day for Corps maintenance workers to perform routine and preventative maintenance without interruption. The recreational lock closures are normally from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday excluding federal holidays. Commercial and government vessels have always been allowed to be locked though at any time, as long as the locks are operational.
For information about recreation on Little Rock District waters, find us on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/littlerockusace, and on twitter at
twitter.com/usacelittlerock.
Release no. 13-075