Weekly News Summary For May 7-13, 2007:
Both the National Industrial Transportation League (NITL) and the American Waterways Operators (AWO) are reporting a delay in the implementation of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) initiative.
AWO says in its April 27 Letter that the Transportation Security Administration and contractor Lockheed Martin “continue to test the program to make sure that it will work as intended when implementation begins.”
AWO said that TSA officials echoed the testimony of TSA administrator Kip Hawley, who told the Senate Commerce Committee that while the agency respects the SAFE Port Act deadlines for TWIC implementation, “further testing is needed to make sure that all systems work as intended before enrollment begins.”
TSA and Lockheed Martin advised that pre-enrollment will begin about two weeks before enrollment begins in Wilmington, Del., the first port selected for TWIC implementation. Applicants will be able to pre-enroll via the Internet or by phone, and may make an appointment to complete the enrollment process at the center of their choice.
NITL said in its April 27 notice that there were “growing signs that the Department of Homeland Security will miss its July 1 deadline set by the SAFE Port Act to implement the first phase of TWIC.”
According to the league, an official with TSA said specific concerns over the TWIC program “would result in the agency’s likely delay in going forward with enrolling applicants for the program at the nation’s 10 highest-risk ports.” NITL said that the statement was part of a response delivered by TSA’s Maurine Fanguy at the April 26 hearing by the House Homeland Security Border, Maritime and Global Terrorism Subcommittee….
Paducah, Ky., will soon add another barge company to its long list of river-affiliated firms either headquartered in the bustling river port or having operations centers located within the harbor.
The latest river firm to announce its relocation to the river hub city is Western Rivers Boat Management, which is moving its headquarters from Ash Flat, Ark. Capt. Charles Strait, the company’s founder and president, has already purchased a home in the area and the rest of the company’s management team is in the process of relocating, he told the WJ.
Maritime attorney Bobby Miller, who represents Capt. Strait, said the company will be moving about 15 employees and will be hiring additional office personnel.
“They envision having 20 to 25 employees by the end of the year in office and vessel-repair operations,” Miller predicted.
An agreement announced in the May 2 edition of the Paducah Sun, reported that Western Rivers will buy the former Marquette Transportation/Bluegrass Marine facility adjacent to the Paducah Riverport dock. The port authority acquired the property from Marquette in late 2005 when it announced its decision to build a modern new facility in Paducah’s Information Age Park. Marquette has recently moved into its new headquarters….
The American Waterways Operators assembled a tool kit to attract new towboat workers.
“We’re facing a personnel shortage industrywide, and one of our members has been coming and asking us to brainstorm ways to help alleviate it in areas,” said Mary McCarthy, public affairs assistant at American Waterways Operators.
The tool kit consists of two brochures and two posters to be distributed to potential employees and displayed anywhere to increase the visibility of the industry and available jobs. The brochures also explain jobs available on boats.
The waterways industry is targeting high school graduates not interested in college, yet opens its doors to a range of workers.
“Lots of people have contacted me. They say ‘I used to work on the river and want to get back into it.’ The water is a draw to people of all ages. Sometimes it’s people in their 30s to 40s looking for a career switch from factory or truck driving,” McCarthy said….
The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Commission is asking the Coast Guard to investigate a dangerous passage of a 50-foot towboat and barge under the bridge two weeks ago.
Causeway General Manager Robert Lambert said the boat was moving erratically, without running lights, and was not in radio contact when it towed a 100-foot barge loaded with a crane under the twin spans about 6 p.m. on April 22.
Bridge police closed the bridge to vehicular traffic for about 10 minutes during the tow’s passage….
As someone who leaves nary a stone unturned in his pursuit of a modernized waterway system, Barry Palmer was appropriately presented with a “box of rocks,” and, more importantly, his name on a towboat when the longtime waterways advocate was honored by Consol Energy April 13, at a renaming ceremony in Pittsburgh.
Palmer, president and chief executive officer of Waterways Council Inc. (WCI), is well-known throughout the inland waterways industry as a tenacious proponent of a modernized system of locks and dams. He was the director of the Association for the Development of Inland Navigation in America’s Ohio Valley (DINAMO) and, since 2003 when DINAMO and WaterwaysWorks! merged to form WCI, has headed that organization. During his 22 years with DINAMO, Palmer spearheaded efforts that resulted in the construction of a number of lock and dam projects on the Ohio River and navigable tributaries.
It was Consol’s president and chief executive officer, Brett Harvey, who was instrumental in bringing DINAMO and WaterwaysWorks! together. The public-spirited leader was chairman of DINAMO at the time, and is an ardent supporter of waterways development.
At the christening, James Grech, senior vice president of Consol, welcomed guests aboard the excursion boat Gateway Party Liner at the mouth of the Monongahela River….
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will fill nine scour holes with 16,000 tons of limestone at the upstream side of the Melvin Price Locks and Dam near Alton, Ill.
The Corps survey boat mv. Boyer found the holes April 20 on a routine sonar examination.
The survey was done when the river was at higher stages. The lifted dam gates helped surveyors move back and forth through open gates and get images of the river bottom up and downstream from the dam. A technician noticed the holes during a computer analysis of the sonar information and told district leaders.
The holes have not caused structural damage, said Corps spokesman Alan Dooley.
“The situation doesn’t represent any threat to public safety. We believe the threat to navigation is minimal, because there’s no structural damage,” Dooley said.
If the holes are left unattended, they may enlarge or deepen, which could lead to more costly repairs in the future. The Melvin Price Locks and Dam was built with a layer of rock upstream from the edge of the concrete foundation to prevent scouring. The rock will have to be replaced at the scour locations, and the fix will include a top layer of larger rock for added scour resistance….
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