Pittsburgh - New Kensington - Butler - Leechburg - Natrona Heights - Kittanning - Freeport Tarentum - Lower Burrell - Vandergrift - Ford City - Hyde Park - Fox Chapel - Brackenridge Your Guide to the Alle-Kiski Valley and the Greater Pittsburgh Area Saturday July 05, 2008 Home     In Business     Go Outside     History     Diversion     Back Issues     Go Outside Take Me to the River The map at right shows the portion of the Allegheny River made navigatable by the construction of slack water dams. These dams were constructed during the 1920's and 30's. Numbering of the dams on the Allegheny begin with dam 2 because dam 1 became redundant with the construction of the dam on the Ohio River at Emsworth. Commercial and recreational traffic bypasses these dams by a sophisticated locking system. Boats enter the locks, the gates are shut and the water level within the lock is raised or lowered to allow the boats to enter into either the upstream or downstream pool. The map below shows the elevation above sea level of each pool. Note that the pools are named for the dams that contain that pool. For example, Lock and Dam 4 are located in Natrona, so pool 4 stands between Natrona and Lock and Dam 5, located six miles upstream in Freeport. The Allegheny River : Watershed of the Nation (A Keystone Book) Visit Our Clients Costello Printing & Graphics Golden Years Management Newport Business Institute Oakbridge Academy of Arts Priority Financial Services Rametta Audiology & Hearing Aid Center West Interior Services Word Association, Publishers AKValley.com, PO Box 16 Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania 15065 724-224-4547 Copyright 1999-2004 by Darren McPhilimy, All Rights Reserved.