Weekly News Summary For January 26-February 1, 2009:
The chief of the Corps of Engineers’ Navigation Branch at its Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg, Miss., defended the computer modeling of tows in the simulation runs through the Surge Barrier sector gate on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) in Eastern New Orleans.
Dennis W. Webb, chief of the Navigation Branch, noted that Capt. Frankie Chambless, one of the industry participants, felt light simulation tows did not respond correctly to wind in a specific situation when power was reduced.
“Capt. Chambless has been and continues to be a valuable participant in the simulations,” said Webb, “and he (Chambless) stated on his questionnaire that ‘The data gained from this project will prove to be very valuable. I appreciate being invited to take part.’”
The Corps computer modeling of tow transits through the proposed 150-foot wide sector gate at ERDC has led to a change from a “no-touch” to a “touch” structure.
Following the recommendation of pilots who volunteered time at the ERDC, the Corps has redesigned the structure between the parallel 150-foot wide channels to have a more tapered “bullet” shape from a rounded shape. Pilots found the change made it easier for tows to navigate through the structure in simulations….
Louisiana announced on January 20 that it had signed an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granting the state the flexibility to pay the required matching funds for levee construction over a period of 30 years.
Without the agreement, the state would have owed $1.8 billion over a three-year period, according to Chris Macaluso, Gov. Bobby Jindal’s public affairs spokesperson. That would have “derailed” much of the state’s other planned coastal protection activities, Macaluso told The Waterways Journal.
Garret Graves, director of the Governor’s Office of Coastal Activities, represented the state at the signing.
Jindal said, “Today’s signing to officially grant Louisiana the flexibility to pay the required match for levee construction over 30 years marks a critical step in our recovery process. The agreement relieves Louisiana of a serious financial burden that would have been difficult for the state to meet and would have delayed the rebuilding of our levee protection system that our citizens were promised and deserve…
The city of Evansville, Ind., has filed a letter with the Corps of Engineers expressing interest in building a slackwater port.
A study presented to the Evansville Port Authority on January 20 concluded that while the current economic downturn presented difficulties to growing the port, and it would face “intense” competition from established Ohio River ports, funding opportunities might become available from President Barack Obama’s stimulus package, according to the Evansville Courier and Press.
The study, conducted by Libby Ogard of Prime Focus LLC of De Pere, Wisc., recommended that the port urge Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.).and Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) to include the slackwater port project in future transportation stimulus projects….
In the early days, when Dennis Pasentine was just starting to assemble the fleet of new boats and barges that today make up Florida Marine Transporters, Jason Belcher, his chief financial officer, would screen his mail, sorting into piles those letters that required Pasentine’s attention and those that didn’t.
One day, he came across one that caught his attention. It was handwritten on a plain envelope postmarked Pearl River, La. The letter was from the 12-year-old nephew of an FMT crewman who had died tragically in a car accident two years prior, Belcher said. The sixth grader asked “Mr. Dennis,” when he got a new boat, would he please name it after his uncle, since his business was growing so much. “(My uncle) was one step away from his captain’s license (and) had a big life in front of him,” he wrote.
Answering for Pasentine, Belcher wrote back, “There is nothing more important than our people and their families. As a tribute to your uncle, I ask that you strive to be the best citizen, student and son that you can be. We loved your uncle.”
Little wonder that the letter writer, Eric Coen, is today a tankerman for Florida Marine. He is now 19. And, the boat on which he proudly works is none other than the mv. Richard Coen, named after his deceased uncle. Pasentine had honored his request.
The boat was christened December 3 in New Orleans, along with four others—all built by Eastern Shipbuilding Group.
Even more fitting, the new vessel’s captain is Matthew Coen, Eric’s father and Richard’s brother….
Charles F. Lehman: Born 1932. Married to Sally. Now retired living in the Louisville area on a five-acre farm.
Probably no person has attended as many industry meetings over his career than Charlie Lehman. During the Korean War, he served a few days short of four years in the U.S. Navy. After several years aboard towboats, rising to captain, he transitioned in 1965 to operational roles with American Commercial Barge Line and later to representing ACBL and the industry, particularly in Coast Guard matters where he was the industry’s “go to guy” on Rules of the Road. Lehman was honored by National Rivers Hall of Fame. He is currently writing A Riverman’s Lexicon in Lehman’s Terms, expected to run several hundred pages and to be published in the spring of 2009.
WJ: How did you first find your way onto the river? What was your first position?
Lehman: As a teen-ager after graduating from high school, the restraints of home life and living in the same area for most of my life, I wanted to see the world. In 1950 an opportunity arose that I could join a Norwegian freighter for the summer. So off I went to the docks of New York and boarded the S/S Bennestvet Brovig. The ship traded between the U.S. and Mexican ports. When summer ended, they wanted me to stay aboard as part of the regular crew, but at take-home pay of $40 per month, it didn’t seem like much of a future, although I enjoyed the sea life working on vessels. After returning home, still infected with wanderlust, I heard about working on riverboats, so I applied to Socony-Vacuum. They hired me, and after a few months, I went to the U.S. Coast Guard, took a test, both written and oral, and became a tankerman….
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