Use of the CORE-LOC as a Baffling System at the Chicago River Turning Basin Cutoff Wall

Lake Michigan is one of the main sources for water supply of the Chicago Metropolitan area. In 1885, the City of Chicago has experienced a severe typhoid epidemic as result of contaminated water from the river into the lake. In order to prevent further contamination, the city engineers have designed in 1900 a timber cribbing wall that separates the Lake and the river, and a series of locks along the Chicago River that reversed the flow of the river away from the Lake Michigan. Over time, the wall started to deteriorate this having as result an uncontrolled leakage of water from the Lake into the river. As part of the Great Lakes system, the water quality and quantity of Lake Michigan is carefully monitored by the local, state and interstate agencies. In order to stop and control the amount of water taken from the Lake Michigan to the Chicago River, a new cutoff wall, a pump station and four sluice gates were designed by Consoer Townsend Envirodyne Engineers, Inc. (CTE-Engineers), for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources — Office of Water Resources. The project location is known as Chicago River Turning Basin, since it was used in the past for vessel maneuvers.