The dedication of the Braddock Dam, the first inland navigation dam ever to be floated to its permanent site, was a festive event, marred only by the reality of budget cuts in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and worries about the crumbling infrastructure of other locks and dams on the Monongahela River.

More than 100 people traveled yesterday on the Gateway Majestic from Station Square to the dedication of the dam at Braddock.

When the Majestic approached the new dam, dignitaries simultaneously pushed a stand of fake levers, the Majestic sounded its horn and Dam Gate 1, the water quality gate, opened, to the applause of the crowd.

"This is a significant milestone in the world of engineering," said Col. Raymond K. Scrocco, head of the local corps office since 2001, who is leaving Pittsburgh for a new assignment.

The dam is one part of a $750 million project that calls for replacing the 70-year-old undersized locks at Charleroi and removing the crumbling Elizabeth Locks and Dam, which were built in 1907.

Maj. Gen. Carl A. Strock, who has been nominated by President Bush to become new chief of engineers in the entire corps, said the corps is "struggling with declining resources," but is committed to moving the other two phases of the Lower Mon project forward "as quickly as we can."

Right now, the completion date appears to be no earlier than 2019 and probably later.

While praising the engineering and success of the new dam, local officials expressed concern about potential failures of the aging infrastructure on the Monongahela River.

James McCarville, executive director of the Port of Pittsburgh Commission, said the biggest threat to continued water transport is the potential failure of one of these aging locks or dams at Elizabeth or Charleroi.

He also expressed concerns about plans to downsize employment in the local Corps of Engineers district, potentially eliminating one-third of the corps' 790 employees by the end of this year.

"We are going in the wrong direction," said McCarville, predicting that the cutbacks will slow down river traffic and negatively impact local commerce.

William Karaffa, acting manager of the Lower Mon project, said early construction at the next phase of the Lower Mon project is moving ahead at Charleroi, where only one of the two locks will be operating for the next 15 years.

Officials said that to get the Lower Mon project on an efficient funding schedule would require $63 million annually through 2013. Current funding is only about $20 million; $30 million a year is needed to finish the Lower Mon project by 2019.

Yesterday, Port of Pittsburgh officials released a study, done by Martin Associates, of Lancaster, that stressed the importance of the rivers.

The study found that river system activity throughout the Pittsburgh district generated 217,877 in jobs in 2002, about 17 percent of the total private sector employment in the 11-county region. Each year, about 52 million tons of cargo passes through the Port of Pittsburgh District.