To promote predictable navigation of the Illinois River, the United States and State of Illinois in the 1870s and 1880s constructed locks and dams at Henry, Copperas Creek, LaGrange, and Kampsville. The Copperas Creek Lock and Dam were completed in 1876. The dam raised the river five feet from Copperas Creek, near Banner, to Henry, Illinois, nearly 60 miles north. Completion of the project linked the river to the Illinois & Michigan Canal at LaSalle and opened the way for water transportation between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. In 1933, the Corps of Engineers opened a new series of locks and dams on the Illinois River to facilitate navigation of the upper reach of the river.