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

 

Locking Through SAFELY Pamphlet

Safety in Locking Through Pamphlet    Safety In Locking Through Pamphlet Back Side

Contact Information

In reply refer to:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
CESAJ-PM-W-N
P. O. Box 4970
Jacksonville, FL 32232-0019

or

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
South Florida Operations Office
525 Ridgelawn Road
Clewiston, FL 33440-5399
Phone: 863-983-8101

St. Lucie Lock & Dam

St. Lucie LockThe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers welcomes you to St. Lucie Lock and Dam, located along the St. Lucie Canal, approximately 15.5 miles upstream of the intersection of the St. Lucie River and the Intracoastal Waterway. The Corps constructed and currently manages five locks along the Okeechobee Waterway. St. Lucielock was built in 1941 for navigation and flood control purposes. In 1944, the connecting spillway structure was built for flood and regulatory flow control through the St. Lucie Canal to manage the water level in Lake Okeechobee.

Facts

Lock history: First lock was built at this site by the Everglades Drainage District in 1925.

Cost of construction: Approximately $2 million total

Lift of lock: Sea level to current St. Lucie Canal water level. (14.5' normal)

Lockages: Approximately 10,000 vessels lock through annually; of these about 91% are recreational vessels.

Commodities: Approximately 26,000 tons of manufactured goods, equipment, machinery, crude materials 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 dimensions: 50 feet wide x 250 feet long x 10 feet deep at low water

Lock chamber type: Concrete and steel sheet pile walls

Lock gate type: Steel sector gates (pie-slice shape) installed in concrete gate chambers, operated by rack and pinion drive

Spillway: Concrete, 170 feet wide

Spillway gates: 7 electrically-operated structural steel tainter gates, each 20 feet long 10.5 feet high

Discharge capacity: 11,000 cfs (cubic feet per second)

Hours of Operation

7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with last lockage beginnng 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: 772-287-2665