Free Republic

Authorities in Pittsburgh closed McKees Rocks Bridge as a precaution after several barges broke loose on the Ohio River late Friday. There is a risk that the barges could come into contact with the “substructure” of the bridge, the McKees Rocks Police Department said in a statement early Saturday confirming the closure. The department said it closed the bridge because it was “not willing to take the risk.” The bridge opened in 1931 and stretches more than 1 mile across the Ohio River. As part of the Blue Belt, the innermost of several roads that loop around Pittsburgh, the bridge...

You should keep a close eye on barges. You probably do not spend much time thinking about barges. This is something that you ought to change. The barge industry is quite important. It’s crucial for moving aluminum, petroleum, fertilizer and coal, particularly on the Mississippi River and its tributaries. About 60% of the grain and 54% of the soybeans for U.S. export are moved via the noble barge. Barges touch more than a third of our exported coal as well. Right now the barge industry — and all of us who depend on its wares — is mired in a...

Dive Brief: Skanska USA Civil Southeast has turned to the federal courts in an attempt to eliminate or significantly reduce its liability for damages caused by barges that broke loose from the $430 million Pensacola Bay Bridge construction project during Hurricane Sally in August by having its barges recognized as vessels protected under maritime law. In five separate filings each covering a different barge, Skanska asked the U.S. District Court in Pensacola, Florida, to declare that it is not liable "for any loss, injuries or damages" related to barge damage, including economic losses suffered by businesses from the closure of...

Multiple barges have hit the I-10 bridge over the San Jacinto River, shutting down the freeway in both directions. Around 11:50 p.m., officials received a report that nine barges had broken away from their moorings at the Southwest Shipyard because the water was so rough. At least two of those hit the bridge. TxDOT has been unable to inspect the bridge because the water was too high after remnants of Tropical Storm Imelda left large swaths of southeast Texas, including Houston, flooded. The barges are stacked up, and there is possible structural damage. The freeway is shut down eastbound at...

A 43-year-old Bettendorf man is facing felony charges after police say he stole a boat and floated down river into the Interstate 74 construction area while naked and untied several ropes that held together the barges Sunday. Tobias Tyrone Hartsfield, last known address in the 2200 block of Grant Street, was booked into the Scott County Jail around 9:30 p.m. on charges of first-degree theft, first-degree criminal mischief and second-degree mischief. At 8 p.m. Sunday, Bettendorf police responded to the I-74 Mississippi River Bridge project barges near the Isle of Capri Casino, 1777 Isle Parkway, for a report of a...

Eight days ago, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal ordered barges to begin vacuuming crude oil out of his state's oil-soaked waters. Today, against the governor's wishes, those barges sat idle, even as more oil flowed toward the Louisiana shore.

Thousands of barges could save Europe from deep freeze By BJS Created 02/06/2006 - 13:47 It is ironic that one consequence of global warming is that Europe might plunge into a deep freeze. This possibility stimulated an unusual research project at the University of Alberta.Dr. Peter Flynn, the Poole Chair in Management for Engineers in the U of A Department of Mechanical Engineering, has studied whether down-welling ocean currents can carry more dissolved carbon into the deep ocean. He learned they can't, but in the course of this research he found some evidence that the ocean currents that bring...

AN Australian port could be attacked or a ferry hijacked by terrorists to transport weapons of mass destruction, because of gaps in the maritime border security net. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has found a lack of awareness from states and the federal Government about the specific threats posed from the sea. "A determined and expert terrorist is still likely to have little difficulty in entering Australia by sea, and will probably only be defeated by advance intelligence of his movements," the institute says in a report titled Future unknown: the terrorist threat to Australian maritime security. "We have high...

More than two million tons of waterborne cargo, including some that floats through the Port of Pittsburgh district, will be disrupted by the planned two-week shutdown next month of the McAlpine Lock on the Ohio River near Louisville, Ky. Chemical, mining and basic manufacturing companies are among those that could be adversely affected by the emergency closure, said James R. McCarville, executive director of the Port of Pittsburgh Commission, a state agency that promotes commercial river use. "This is something we think will have a significant impact. Everything below Louisville that comes here will be subject to closing. All of...

Private enterprise is honoring its commitment to properly care for the nation's locks and dams. The federal government is not. Deferred maintenance of our waterways could have a ripple effect on the region's economy and safety. Trib readers learned Tuesday in a dispatch from Sandra Tolliver that the infrastructure of the Port of Pittsburgh -- America's second largest inland port -- is living on borrowed time.

About 12.5 million tons of cargo move through three antiquated locks and dams on the lower Monongahela River each year, but lack of money to rebuild the dams threatens to halt those shipments. The reconstruction project, already 10 years in the making, will last 15 more years if the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cannot devote $60 million to it annually. If anything happens to shut down river traffic, every household in the region would see higher utility and gasoline costs. Thousands of jobs directly and indirectly tied to river transportation could be jeopardized. "We think we're living on borrowed...

The jobs of hundreds of workers who oversee operation of the region's river system for the U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers could be in jeopardy if a shortfall in federal funds to upgrade the rivers' aging lock-and-dam system continues, officials warned Thursday. Operation of the river system itself could also be in peril, along with the millions of dollars worth of commerce that are shipped annually. "While we are here to celebrate a really striking development in the dedication of the Braddock dam ... we have some problems because of the perilous condition of our locks and dams," said James...

Elizabeth Dam improvements could be delayed 15 years or longer When tow boat Capt. Steve Lumpkins moves coal through the century-old locks and dam on the Monongahela River at Elizabeth, he gingerly avoids weakened concrete walls and jutting metal rods that could gash and sink the 195-foot barges he pushes. "There are big chunks out of the wall as we approach from the upper end and three spots that we avoid touching that could cause a crash. That metal could rip the whole side of a barge open,'' Lumpkins said from the Richard C., a tow boat he operates for...

<p>Local waterways officials are outraged over a proposal advanced by the Bush administration calling for waterways users to pay up to half the cost of operating and maintaining the nation's locks, dams and channels.</p> <p>Yesterday, local and national waterways officials and operators decried the proposal as "shortsighted," and said it violates an agreement forged by the government and waterways users in 1986. That agreement affirmed federal responsibility for inland waterways operation and maintenance in exchange for inland waterways users assuming the obligation for financing 50 percent of future construction and major rehabilitation spending.</p>