Illinois River reopens to navigation; all construction completed

UTICA – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Thursday that construction is complete at the Starved Rock Lock and Dam and the Illinois River is now reopened to navigation. The long project began in 2019 to replace and repair lock and dam sites, including Marseilles, Starved Rock and six other locations statewide. The upper and lower gates were replaced as well as the gear mechanism that controls the gates that allow boats and barges to move upstream and downstream on the Illinois River.