Navigation Locks – Storyboard

Image or Scene	Timing (By IMO)	Narration/Voice-over
New Orleans District Logo		The US Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for a number of public works involving America’s navigable waterways. Among the most interesting, but least understood, are navigation locks.
District Map with Locks Highlighted		There are eleven navigation locks in the New Orleans District. From west to east, the locks are…
Image – Calcasieu Lock		…Calcasieu Lock, south of Lake Charles, where the Intracoastal Waterway meets the Calcasieu River…
Image – Freshwater Bayou Lock		…Freshwater Bayou Lock, near Pecan Island, where Freshwater Bayou meets the Gulf of Mexico…
Image – Leland Bowman Lock		…Leland Bowman Lock, south of Lafayette, at the intersection of the Intracoastal Waterway and the Vermilion River…
Image – Berwick Lock		…Berwick Lock, where Bayou Teche crosses the west Atchafalaya Basin levee…
Image – Bayou Boeuf Lock		…Bayou Boeuf Lock in Morgan City, where the intracoastal Waterway crosses the east Atchafalaya Basin levee…
Image – Bayou Sorrel Lock		…Bayou Sorrel Lock, where the Intracoastal Waterway’s alternate route crosses the east Atchafalaya Basin levee…
Image – Old River Lock		…Old River Lock, where the Mississippi River and the Atchafalaya River intersect…
Image – Port Allen Lock		…Port Allen Lock, across the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge, where the Intracoastal Waterway’s alternate route meets the Mississippi River…
Image – Harvey Lock		…Harvey Lock, in the New Orleans Metro Area, where the main stem of the Intracoastal Waterway meets the Mississippi River…
Image – Algiers Lock		…Algiers Lock, also in New Orleans, which was built to supplement Harvey Lock…
Image – Inner Harbor Lock		…and finally, Inner Harbor Lock, also called Industrial Lock, where the Intracoastal Waterway meets the Mississippi River from the east. Inner Harbor Lock is the only one in the New Orleans District that’s big enough to pass ships, as well as boats and barges.
Map of the District, with Calcasieu, Freshwater Bayou, and Leland Bowman locks highlighted.		The New Orleans District uses navigation locks for two main purposes. The western locks protect the agricultural areas in and around the Mermentau River Basin from saltwater intrusion due to tides in the Gulf of Mexico…
Map of the District, with Berwick, Bayou Boeuf, and Bayou Sorrel Locks highlighted, and the line of the Atchafalaya Basin levees highlighted.		…and the others allow waterways to cross a levee system. The central locks allow the Intracoastal Waterway to cross the Atchafalaya Basin levees…
Map of the District, with Old River, Port Allen, Harvey, Algiers, and Inner Harbor locks highlighted, and the Mississippi River levees highlighted.		…while the eastern locks allow the Intracoastal Waterway and other navigation channels to cross the Mississippi River levees.
Still image – cross-section of a lock. Exaggerate vertical scale to emphasize differences in water elevation		Normally, the water levels on each side of a navigation lock are different, so a lock has to work like an elevator.
Still image – Top (plan) view of lock.		This is accomplished by using two sets of gates to enclose a chamber. [Emphasize underlined words.]
Image or video – sector gates. Use footage from Algiers Lock		There are two types of gates in use at navigation locks in the New Orleans District. Seven of the locks use sector gates. These gates are wedge-shaped, like a slice of pie. The hinges are at the point, and the curved outer edge is the skin plate that seals the chamber…
Image or video – miter gates. Use footage from Inner Harbor Lock		…The other type of gates, used at four locks, is the miter gate. These are shaped like more traditional double doors. Locks with miter gates also need to have valves for changing the water level in the chamber. Let’s take a look at one of our miter-gated locks to see how the lock works.
Video – Lock operator calling vessel to enter chamber. Use footage from IHNC Captain’s shack		Passing a vessel through a lock begins when the vessel, which is already waiting, is called to enter the chamber (Option: narrator’s voiceover overlaps radio communication recorded at lock in background audio)
Video – vessel approaching a lock from low-water side. Option – Clock overlay in corner of screen showing true elapsed time for lockage in this and all following video		The video you’re watching uses time-lapse photography to speed up the process, so that it only takes a couple of minutes to pass a vessel through the lock. In real life, from the time a vessel enters a lock to the time it exits the other end can take anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour.
Video– vessel passing between open gates.		The lock starts with one set of gates open, and the water level in the chamber is the same as the water in the channel on that side. A vessel enters through the open gates.
Video – Vessel tying up to lock wall. NOT time-lapse, because that makes deckhand’s movement look goofy		Once the vessel is moored inside the lock chamber, the lock operator closes the lock gates behind the vessel.
Video – Lock operator closing gates		(No narration)
Video – Gates closing		(No narration)
Video – Lock operator opening valves. Fade to…		With the vessel securely tied up and the gates closed, the lock operator can then open the valves at the opposite end of the lock.
Animation – Cross-section. Both sets of gates closed, water in chamber at lower elevation. Open valves at high-water end, water in chamber rises to match high-water elevation.		To adjust the water level in the lock chamber to match the water level of the waterway on the opposite end, we let water drain into the chamber from the high-water side, or drain out of the chamber to the low-water side through the valves. Contrary to what one would expect, there are no pumps. The valves allow gravity to do all the work.
Video – Lock operator opening gates ahead of vessel		(No narration)
Animation – Cross-section. Valves at high-water end are still open. Gates at high-water end open up, vessel leaves.		Once the water levels are equalized, the gates at that end are opened…
Video – vessel departing lock.		…and the vessel can continue on its way.
End Credits overlaid on District logo. Include District homepage address.		Please visit our web site for additional information on the navigation locks and the other public works projects of the US Army Corps of Engineers’ New Orleans District.