Walnutport borough opened seven construction bids Tuesday morning for the Lock 24 Restoration Project.

"The lock is going to be reconstructed to look like Lock 23 by the Lock Tender's House," said borough engineer Jason Newhard.The work detail for Lock 24 will include reconstruction of timber lock walls, timber retaining walls, sediment removal, concrete spallrepairs and associated site work on historic Lehigh Canal located lock, according to the job description."We're trying to save the lock and the history here," Newhard said.The Lehigh Canal was constructed by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company in 1829 with the purpose to transport coal from the coal mines of northeastern Pennsylvania, and import goods from Philadelphia and New York.The canal is 46 miles long, starting just above Jim Thorpe and continuing south to Easton, where it eventually connects to the Delaware Canal.According to the Walnutport Canal Association, the canal was hand-constructed using pickaxes and shovels. In 1942 most of the canal was destroyed by a flood. The Blue Ridge Rod and Gun Club initiated the canal's restoration in 1952.In the summer of 2011 Hurricane Irene caused severe damage to both Locks 23 and 24 in the borough. FEMA provide the funds to reconstruct Lock 23, leaving Lock 24 next in line for repairs."It's in deplorable condition where it's going to fall apart. If we don't do something now, we're going to lose it," said borough grant coordinator Michael Wentz."Originally the grant was for 23, and I piggybacked Lock 24 onto it. But since FEMA paid for 23, we didn't need the money for that lock. The grant money just sat in the bank for Lock 24," Wentz said. "We are lucky that the grant will cover most of it."The project will be awarded to one of the seven companies during Thursday night's monthly borough meeting.