The US Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District has awarded the approach wall and decommissioning contract to C.J. Mahan Construction Company. This represents the final contract required to complete the Chickamauga lock replacement project located at Tennessee River mile 471 in Chattanooga.
The base contract is valued at $192,143,925. Under this agreement, C.J. Mahan Construction Company will build downstream approach walls and breach the existing dam to connect the upstream approach to the new lock.
The contractor is also tasked with bringing the new lock into operation and removing the cofferdam. "The entire USACE team managing this project is ready to work with our contract partner and move the project to the finish line and deliver a new and larger operational lock," said Lieutenant Colonel Guillermo Guandique, USACE Nashville District Commander.
C.J. Mahan Construction Company will now develop a detailed construction schedule and prepare to mobilise. Work is scheduled to begin after the upstream approach wall is finished and space is vacated by the lock chamber contractor.
Current lock chamber construction by Shimmick Construction Company is approximately 76 per cent complete. USACE reported that upstream approach wall work is roughly 70 per cent finished as of February 2026 and remains on schedule.
Navigation traffic is slated to transition to the new lock during the execution of this final contract. USACE stated the new lock will accommodate nine jumbo barges, measuring 35 feet (11 metres) by 195 feet (59 metres), in a single lockage.
The new infrastructure is expected by USACE to provide an 80 per cent increase in efficiency for the navigation industry compared to the existing lock.
Project Manager Bob Winters noted that recreational vessels and commercial tows will maintain access to 318 miles (512 kilometres) of navigable waterways upstream.
He added that once complete, tows will more efficiently deliver commodities along the Tennessee River.
