Anybody lock thru the Allegheny River?

[SST]

Yesterday I was riding my bike on the rail to trail path called the Armstrong Trail in PA. The section I rode on started at East Brady and I stopped at the Lock and Dam 9. This photo is #9.

There a many boats tied up along the river. Not living in this region I just assumed that it was to shallow to operate in. The placard that was at this lock/dam stated that it maintains a 9 foot depth.

The opposite side of this pic is an electricity generating plant. There was nobody at the lock.

 

[Doc]

We have what looks like similar locks and dams on the Muskingum River that runs into the Ohio River at Marietta.
Friend told me about going through 3 or 4 of the locks one weekend. The gals on the boat were shocked cause every dam they got to the same guy was tending it. They asked if anyone else worked there. He said today was his day. He was the only lock tender they saw that day.

 

[SST]

Did they throw you a line to hold onto? On the Erie Canal, there are ropes and cables attached to the chamber walls so that you can either hold the rope or put a line around the cable.

 

[Doc]

It was a friend telling me about his ride.
On the ohio they don't throw you anything. You have to have a couple lines at the ready and have a person manning the front and the rear holding or being close to the lines in case adjustment is needed.
Ihe floaing things we hooked to went up and down with the water.
There are some permanent ones there also (no clue what their use is) but one boat tied onto them and the dam workers who normally look things over before raising or lowering the water missed it.
The boat ended up hanging vertical. I saw pics of it, I was not there to witness who helped the people that had to fall into the water.