Lock and Dam No. 13

Lock and Dam No. 13 is a lock and dam located on the Upper Mississippi River above Fulton, Illinois and Clinton, Iowa, United States. This facility offers visitors a view of the barges and boats locking through on the widest pool in the Upper Mississippi River.

The movable portion of the dam is 1066 ft long and consists of ten tainter gates and three roller gates. The non-movable portion of the dam continues toward the Iowa shore with a 200 ft storage yard, a 728 ft non-submersible dike, a 1650 ft submersible dike, and a 1315 ft non-submersible dike with two 90 ft transitional sections between the submersible and non-submersible sections. There is also an 8940 ft non-submersible dike on the Illinois side east of the locks. The main lock is 110 ft wide by 600 ft long and like most other sites in the project, it has a smaller, unfinished, auxiliary lock. In 2004, the facility was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as Lock and Dam No. 13 Historic District, #04000173 covering 2542 acre, 1 building, 6 structures, and 4 objects.

This lock and dam represent the man-made exit from the Driftless Area, where shipping has to travel a few feet above bedrock over the 9 ft shipping channel. It's about 522 ft above sea level.