The new lock at Chickamauga dam may be finished 6 years earlier than expected.

Senator Lamar Alexander's office says legislation has passed both houses that will put Chickamauga 4th in-line for money from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund. 

Work on the 74-year-old lock has stalled in the last three years.

If it were to fail, it would cut-off barge traffic on the Tennessee River. 

The legislation passed unanimously in both houses.