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Locking Requirements for Safety

Safety is the prime consideration when locking any type of vessel through a lock.

The lock operator has full authority over the movement of boats in the lock and its approaches.

Operators must require all passengers to wear a Coast Guard approved life jacket and turn off engines.

IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ BEFORE LOCKING THROUGH:
Notice to Navigation: 2019-001 Canaveral and Okeechobee Lock Procedures

Port Mayaca Lock & Dam

Port Mayaca at Sunset The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers welcomes you to Port Mayaca Lock and Dam, located on the east side of Lake Okeechobee at the junction with the St. Lucie Canal. The Okeechobee Waterway extends to the Gulf of Mexico using the Caloosahatchee River and to the Atlantic Ocean using the St. Lucie Canal. Covering 152 miles, the waterway serves as both a commercial and recreational link. The Corps of Engineers constructed and currently manages five locks along the waterway. Port Mayaca Lock was built in 1977 for navigation purposes, to permit the raising of water levels in Lake Okeechobee, and to moderate the effects of higher lake stages along the St. Lucie Canal.

Facts

Cost of construction: Approximately $13.1 million total

Waterway distances: 23.9 miles to St. Lucie Lock, 39 miles via open lake (route 1) and 50 miles via rim canal (route 2) to Moore Haven Lock

Lockage: Approximately 9,500 vessels lock through annually; of these about 96% are recreational vessels.

Commodities: Approximately 18,000 tons of manufactured goods, machinery, crude materials, food and farm products locked annually.

Lock usage: Operating hours 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., 365 days a year, unless otherwise noted in the Coast Guard published, "Notice to Mariners." Lockage usually takes 15 to 20 minutes.

Technical Details

Lock chamber: 56 feet wide x 400 feet long x 14 feet deep

Lift of lock: Difference between St. Lucie Canal water leveland Lake Okeechobee water level. Normally 1/2 foot to 2 feet.

Channel width and depth: 100 feet wide x 8 feet deep

Lock gate type: Steel sector gates (pie-slice shape)

Spillway: Concrete ogee type, with 4 vertical lift gates.

Discharge capacity: 14,800 cfs (cubic feet per second)

Hours of Operation

7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with last lockage beginning at 4:30 p.m.

Contact Information

General information: 863-983-8101
SFOO@usace.army.mil

Navigation Locks monitor Marine VHF radio channel 13.
Bridges monitor channel 9.

To contact lock: 561-924-2858