The official participant returns the scissors after a ceremony at the John P. Murtha Locks and Dam on the Monongahela River in Monessen, Pennsylvania, August 28, 2024.

The official service will cut the ribbon on the new navigation chamber at the John P. Murtha Locks and Dam on the Monongahela River in Monessen, Pennsylvania, on August 28, 2024. The group included Chelsea Jones, river ranger for the Pittsburgh District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Kirk McWilliams, the area engineer for the Pittsburgh District; Austin Davis, the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania; John Murtha Jr., the son of the late Congressman John P. Murtha; Col. Nicholas Melin, commander of the Pittsburgh District; Conor Lamb, the chairman of the Port of Pittsburgh Commission; Alan Nogy, the chief of navigation for the Pittsburgh District; and Keith Millstine, the facility’s lock keeper.

The ceremony celebrated the renaming of the Monongahela River Locks and Dam 4 in honor of the late Congressman John P. Murtha, who also served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam. The ceremony recognized the 20-year construction of an upgraded chamber, 720 feet long and 84 feet wide, replacing an older, smaller chamber. Construction also included a control tower with state-of-the-art systems and the ability to remotely control other facilities in the future. The new chamber expands the facility’s capacity to support commercial shipping throughout the region and across the country.

(U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District photo by Michel Sauret)