Weekly News Summary for June 27–July 3, 2005:
As part of the celebratory opening of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway 20 years ago, skydivers jumped one at a time from a plane to a small target on the bank of an embayment that was immediately upstream of the lock and dam at Columbus, Miss.
When each member of the Army’s elite parachute team left the plane, the announcer called out the state he represented and the source of the water he carried with him in a small vial. The last man brought water from Lake Itasca. Those before him delivered water from rivers similarly connected to the Tenn-Tom. There were 23 jumpers in total, representing the number of states on the inland river system that could receive or ship goods on the new waterway.
Brig. Gen. Forrest Gay III (ret.) recalled during his visit to the site on June 1 for the 20th anniversary celebration, that Wisconsin participated only because of a last-minute phone call that he made to the governor, who was attending a dinner party at the time. Gen. Gay was South Atlantic Division engineer then, which included the Mobile District.
Wisconsin had refused to go along with the dedication because it was opposed to the Tenn-Tom. "But the governor and I had known one another when he was secretary of natural resources and I was at the St. Paul District, so I was able to get him to cooperate," Gay said.
The skydivers poured the water into a funnel connected to a map showing the inland waterways. When the last vial was emptied into it, Secretary of the Army John Marsh and Sen. Tom Bevill opened a mock valve that allowed the water to spill into the Tenn-Tom. As the water cascaded into the bay, 10,000 balloons filled the air. The band started playing.
Donald Waldon, administrator of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Authority then (as now, although he is retiring July 1) also had recollections of the event.
"It was the closest I ever came to being fired," he said. "(Alabama) Gov. Wallace wanted to have the dedication in Mobile, and I felt it would have a greater impact being on the Tenn-Tom. He isn’t someone you argue with. Here I was just six months on the job and he was one of the most powerful members of the Compact. But we managed to reach a compromise (whereby) we’d hold a celebration in both Columbus and Mobile."
To celebrate the 20th anniversary, the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Authority and the Corps of Engineers toured the Tenn-Tom for 10 days with a display barge, stopping for open houses at various ports. The barge is owned by the Vicksburg District and was pushed by the Mobile District’s retractable-pilothouse towboat Tenn-Tom, piloted by 20-year veteran Capt. Ron Vail of Columbus, Miss….
A better system of tracking cargo in barges could make the waterways system safer for first responders at accidents and help prevent terrorist incidents, said software developer Mike Thibodaux.
A lot of money has been spent on airlines, he said, but comparatively little has been made available to keep unsavory characters from "using our water transportation infrastructure against us," he pointed out.
"Look at the federal money given to airlines to mitigate their expenses and exposure," he said, adding for a passenger or cargo to board an airplane, a specific process must be followed. "You don’t have to go though a process to get on a boat."
Thibodaux, the president of Information Technology Systems, twice presented his comments at recent conferences in New Orleans, including the Inland Rivers Ports and Terminals in April, and the joint meeting of Heartland Intermodal Partnership and the Standing Committee on Water Transportation of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in May.
In computer-animated demonstrations, Thibodaux posed several scenarios in which the growing use of barges to haul bulk and containerized cargo could be used against bridges and civilian populations….
Bunge North America announced recently that it will build a barge unloading and grain storage facility at the Port of Decatur, Ala. In conjunction with the new facility, Gold Kist, the third-largest poultry company in the United States, has signed a supply agreement with Bunge.
Bunge signed a contract with Decatur Transit, operator of the Port of Decatur. Bunge will lease land at the port and build the facility, which is expected to be operational in September.
The Port of Decatur is located on the Tennessee River at Mile 304.1, and has a river frontage of more than 2,000 feet.
"Our agreement with Decatur Transit provides Bunge an opportunity to expand our domestic capabilities into Alabama using barge transportation, which is the most economically efficient way to ship grain," said Bailey Ragan, vice president and general manager-River Grain Region for Bunge Grain. "This facility also enables Bunge to assure supplies to our feed grain customers in the Southeast."…
Dramatically reducing the backlog of mariner license applications for renewal and upgrade requests earned the Regional Exam Center (REC) in New Orleans a Coast Guard Meritorious Team Commendation.
"When evaluated as a function of time, previous delays of up to 18 weeks have been reduced to less than 18 days or have been eliminated outright," wrote Captain F.M. Paskewich, captain of the port (COTP) in New Orleans, in issuing the commendation.
After taking over as COTP in August 2004, dealing with licensing delays was one of the major issues facing Capt. Paskewich and the REC’s new chief, Cmdr. DaWayne Penberthy.
Having mariners wait 18 weeks from the time license renewal paperwork was logged in at the REC until it first reached an evaluator’s desk, was unacceptable to Penberthy.
"The entire unit participated in a systematic analysis of the processes of the (REC)," Paskewich noted. "…Alternative processes and organizational refinements were developed, …(the unit) leveraged previously untapped resources…and built in a mechanism to recognize those employees who excel," said the commendation.
After two months of analysis, changes were implemented….
The U.S. Coast Guard has received four applications from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to amend the original bridge permits to authorize construction of concrete pier protection cells on the upstream and downstream side of existing bridge piers over the Arkansas Waterway.
They include: I-40 highway bridge, Mile 360.3, Webbers Falls, Muskogee and Sequoyah County; U.S. 64 bridge, Mile 363.1, Webbers Falls, Muskogee and Sequoyah County; U.S. 62 bridge, Mile 392.5, Muskogee, Muskogee County; and Highway 51 bridge, Mile 412.2, Wagoner, Wagoner County.
Existing clearances will remain unchanged by the proposed protection cells at each bridge location….
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