Bankhead Lock Trip Video

Here it is. Be sure and turn up the volume, especially around 3:52 to 5:00…the sirens and the submarine-like sounds of the water pressure on the steel and concrete are unique.

Philip Cunningham of the US Army Corps of Engineers, the man that let us through the lock, said it holds 39 million gallons of water. We dropped 68 feet in depth, which means the pressure on the bottom of the lock doors and walls increased to 3,000 mb (atmospheric is 1,000 mb) by the time we were leveled out. That’s 29.4 psi (pounds per square inch) above atmospheric pressure, or about 2 tons per square foot!

Category: Uncategorized