Joliet river barrier to stop Asian carp a one-of-its-kind, $1.1 billion project

The $1.1 billion barrier being designed for the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet Township would combine noise, bubbling water and electric shock to keep Asian carp from moving into the Great Lakes.

It's a one-of-a-kind system combining deterrents in a way never before done in the cause of blocking invasive species from taking over lakes and waterways.

"The Brandon Road barrier is going to be the Cadillac of barrier systems," John Rogner, assistant director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, said at an open house on the project in Joliet last week.

Within the circles of those who worry about invasive species entering water systems, the Brandon Road Interbasin Project could capture the eyes of the nation.

"The technology we're developing and honing here can be used in other parts of the country where invasive species are moving," said Scott Whitney, chief of project branch management at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Rock Island District.

The components of the proposed Brandon Road barrier have been used elsewhere, including an electric barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in Romeoville. But the proposed combination of the three at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam is unique.

Whitney led presentations held during last week's open house at the Clarion Hotel and Convention Center in Joliet and a tour at the Brandon Lock and Dam.

The Army Corps is collecting comments on a project that has long been talked about and could be nearing reality.

Once state and federal officials sign off on an agreement, the government will begin the process of seeking bids for the project and scheduling construction dates.

Some of the work would be unique.

"For this acoustic barrier we're using, there's only one manufacturer," Whitney said.

The planned barrier includes speakers intended to be heard only underwater by fish as a deterrent to keep them from entering the Brandon Lock and Dam and moving along the Des Plaines River and Illinois Waterway into Lake Michigan. The speakers actually will have volume control so they can be turned down if they become an annoyance to the human ear.

That's not the only deterrent planned at Brandon Road Lock and Dam.

An aeration system would bubble water at rates making it uninviting for fish to approach, and another system would produce electric current to create another deterrent.

Environmental urgency

The stakes are high, Whitney and other officials said at the Joliet open house.

"The fish are knocking at the door, and we don't want them to enter the Great Lakes," Whitney said during a presentation.

The first deterrent to entry past the Brandon Road Lock and Dam is expected to be in place within two to three years after the start of construction. The entire project will take more than six years to complete.

Tammy Newcomb, senior water police adviser for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, joined the presentation by Zoom to emphasize the importance of the project far beyond Joliet.

"This project is the very first of its kind in protecting an entire region from invasive fishes," Newcomb said. "It's a legacy project."

Asian carp, the primary target, are known to take over water environments they inhabit and eat up other species native to America. They already are prominent in the Illinois River, and the Brandon Road project is designed to keep them from dominating Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes.

"There are a lot of folks who want to be part of this and help us bring this to reality," Whitney said. "A lot of the interest and concern is that we're not working fast enough."

The Army Corps of Engineers is waiting on a Planned Partnership Agreement to be signed by Illinois and federal officials to give a green light for construction. Once that is signed, the Army Corps will begin to seek bids from contractors, a process that will take more than a year to complete before construction will start.

The project will not stop barge and boat traffic on the Des Plaines River.

But it will interrupt hunting and fishing in the area near the Brandon Road Lock and Dam, which is one of the reasons the Army Corps is collecting public input on the project.

"We don't want to get too far down the road without building in your concerns," Rogner said at the open house.