Olmsted Locks and Dam Project

Push-Pull System

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) started in 1995 with the construction of a new Locks and Dam in the Ohio River.
This Locks and Dams 52 and 53 Replacement Project is also known as the Olmsted Locks and Dam Project.
The project is intended to reduce tow and barge delays by replacing the existing older, and frequently congested, Locks and Dams Number 52 and Number 53 .
This project is set to be operational by the mid to end of 2018. The removal of the Locks and Dams 52 and 53 are completed in 2020.
It is the largest and the most expensive inland waterway project ever undertaken in the United States.
Concrete segments needed for this dam were constructed on top of the river bedding.
To lower these 6000m ton heavy concrete blocks into the Ohio River Hydrospex B.V. built in 2010 a Push-Pull system that could lower a cradle with these concrete segments in to the Ohio River.
In my role as Electrical Engineer, employed by Hydrospex at that time, I designed the hardware and software for this control system. 
The control and hydraulic systems are redundant to minimize the delays during failures but can also work together to double the speed.