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T.J. O'Brien Lock and Dam facts for kids

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T. J. OBrien Lock and Dam
T J OBrien Lock and Dam.jpg
Location Hegewisch, Chicago
Opening date 1960
Construction cost $6,954,700
Operator(s) United States Army Corps of Engineers logo.svg United States Army Corps of Engineers Rock Island District
Dam and spillways
Type of dam 4 slide gate sections
Impounds Calumet River to Lake Michigan harbor
Length 297 feet (91 m)
Reservoir
Normal elevation 577 feet (176 m) above sea level

Thomas J. O'Brien Lock & Dam is a lock on the Calumet River on the south side of Chicago. (The Calumet River is a tributary to the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, which flows into the Des Plaines River, the Illinois River and then the Mississippi.) The dam is 326 river miles (525 km) from the Mississippi-Illinois confluence. The up-river side of the dam is at Lake Michigan's level, 577 feet (176 m) above sea level. The lock dimensions are 1,000 by 110 feet (305 m × 34 m).

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