SOUTHERN ILLINOIS JOBS IN JEOPARDY AS DAM CONTRACTOR SUPPLIES WORKERS

OLMSTED, Ill. -- Local construction jobs are in jeopardy when work gets under way on the coffer dam phase of the billion-dollar Olmsted lock and dam project.

The winner of the first phase contract of the project will "bring in" its own workers for the $53.6 million project to build a coffer dam on the Ohio River.

Balfour-Beatty Construction Inc., a British-owned company with U.S. headquarters at Wilmington, Del., has an agreement with United Steelworkers District 50 in Eastern Kentucky to provide labor for the Olmsted project.

The Kentucky district is about 400 miles from the Olmsted project, creating an outcry from local legislators and labor leaders concerning the use of outside labor.

"These jobs should go to local union workers, and that's what we want here," said Edward M. Smith, president and business manager of the Southern Illinois Laborers District Council.

"It would be a tragedy and injustice to bring this size project to the poorest region in Southern Illinois, then deny Southern Illinois workers those jobs," said U.S. Rep. Glenn Poshard (D-Ill.).

In an area that has seen 20 percent unemployment for a number of years, the 11-year dam project could bring up to 500 full-time jobs at its peak.

"We've been trying hard to work with the company and steelworkers to reach some sort of accommodations whereby people who are in Southern Illinois can do the work on the job," said Poshard.

"But, the Balfour-Beatty Company told us they were not required by law to use local labor, and that they did not intend to use local labor."

The Olmsted Dam project, which includes the construction of a dam to replace two existing dams near Olmsted, was authorized through the efforts of Illinois delegations, noted Poshard.

But, the contract is a federal contract. The Corps said competitive bidding prohibited requiring that local laborers be used for the dam project.

"We're still looking into things," said Poshard Friday. "We'll be talking with the company again Monday."

Poshard had earlier introduced a bill to require that local labor be used, but the measure never made it out of a congressional committee.

Balford-Beatty submitted the low bid of $53.6 million for construction of a coffer dam. The bid was well under the estimated cost. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimated the project would cost $60 million.

The coffer dam will divert water on the Ohio River from the construction site of a replacement dam.

The proposed Olmsted dam project is the largest public works program in the history of Southern Illinois.

The timetable for the new locks and dams facility near Olmsted calls for completion of the facility by January 2005, according to David Weyer, Louisville District project engineer.

The dam project, which will replace Dams 52 and 53 on the Ohio River, started as an $800 million project when the bill was introduced a number of years ago by then Illinois Congressman Kenneth Gray and U.S. Rep. Carroll Hubbard Jr. (D-Ky.).

The dams that will be replaced are 70 years old. The normal life of a lock and dam is about 50 years, according to the Corps.

If anything happens to shut down either of the existing facilities, Ohio River traffic would be brought to its knees, say officials.

Col. David E. Peixotto, district commander of the Corps at Louisville, added that this area of the Ohio River sees more than 10,000 tows a year, handling more than 83 million tons of goods valued at $9.2 billion annually.

That section of the Ohio is the busiest stretch because of "downbound and upbound" traffic from the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, according to Peixotto.

"The traffic is projected to double by the completion date of the project," he said.

The new facility, which will be located south of Dam 52, near Olmsted, will consist of two 1,200-foot- by 110-foot locks adjacent to the Illinois bank and a "gated" dam.

"The gated section of the dam would be submerged to allow tows to cross over during high water," said Weyer. "That is the reason there will be no road across the dam."