Weekly News Summary for September 10-16, 2007:
Four years ago, when John Paul Woodley Jr. took office as assistant secretary of the Army (civil works), the first Corps of Engineers installation he visited was the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway. He made a return visit last month for the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Opportunities Conference at Point Clear, Ala., to give an update on Corps activities, the federal budget picture, and federal legislation to authorize water resources projects.
Although he praised the waterway and its supporters at the conference, some of what he had to say may not have come across as good news to attendees.
In particular, Woodley raised the possibility that the administration will seek a new user fee for commercial users of the inland waterways to help pay the costs of infrastructure improvements. And he pointed to several administration concerns about the Water Resources Development Act, which he said President Bush is unlikely to sign unless those concerns are addressed.
Noting that the president’s civil works budget request for fiscal 2008—$4.87 billion—was the largest civil works proposal ever by a president, Woodley said that the administration is proposing to spend $418 million on waterway construction next year. Half of that money would come from the Inland Waterways Trust fund, which is comprised of fuel taxes paid by inland waterway operators.
Unfortunately, however, that fund is running dry, he said.
“Because of this robust level of investment that we’re making, the Inland Waterways Trust Fund is being spent at a rate faster than it’s being replenished by taxes,” Woodley said. “And based on that, we’re actually going to reach a point where we don’t have a balance in the trust fund sometime early in 2009.”…
Following several weeks of speculation and rumors, Marquette Transportation Company Vice President Tom Erickson confirmed his company’s purchase of a dozen line-haul towboats from Excell Marine Corporation.
There had been several unconfirmed rumors and other “stern line news” from various sources suggesting that Marquette had bought Excell’s line-haul boats, with some already destined for export to South America. Erickson did not comment on the export sales other than to say the company is looking at several different options.
Erickson told The Waterways Journal that Marquette closed the deal with Excell on August 31. He described the transaction as an asset purchase “to establish a presence on the Ohio River system to better serve our customers by giving them more options.”…
A power generating company based in Columbus, Ohio, is waiting for permission to build a pulverized coal-fired power plant along the bank of the Ohio River.
American Municipal Power is waiting for permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, and the Ohio Power Siting Board before it can start building the plant located between Miles 235 and 236 on the Ohio River near Letart Falls, in Meigs County, Ohio.
Operation of the new facility would require about 2,600 barges of coal to be offloaded per year. Loaded barges would be moored three wide and five long, with a maximum riverward extension of 170 feet from the normal pool shoreline. Empty barges would be moored three wide and five long, with a maximum riverward extension of 255 feet from the normal pool shoreline. The barge unloading facility would extend about 3,100 feet parallel to the normal pool shoreline.
The construction process will take 4-1/2 to five years and will cost between $2 billion and $2.5 billion.
“It’s a big thing to build. There’s a lot that goes into a plant of this nature,” said Kent Carson, spokesman for American Municipal Power….
Tennessee Valley Towing Inc., Paducah, Ky., has won a countersuit against a former employee after the company was exonerated of liability for an injury allegedly suffered in 2004.
The United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky handed down its judgment in favor of TVT August 24. The ruling followed a jury’s verdict in a case brought against the company by Alvin Doughty, who claimed he injured his back while working as a deckhand aboard the mv. Jerry McNeil at Cairo, Ill.
Doughty, 51, also from Paducah, had been employed by the firm only three weeks prior to the alleged incident, according to Capt. Harley Hall Jr., TVT vice president-operations. Hall said that based on evidence and statements gathered immediately following the alleged injury, TVT denied any liability and filed a countersuit against Doughty to recover money the firm initially paid for treatment and for additional maintenance claims.
He said further investigation revealed that Doughty had concealed a prior back injury during his pre-employment interview and physical evaluation.
Further investigation found documentation of a similar suit filed against another river towing company by Doughty previous to the TVT case, Hall said. Prior to being hired by TVT, Doughty had worked for Western Kentucky Navigation, James Marine and International Barge Company, Hall said.
Conrad Industries Inc. recently announced the award of a contract for the construction of a ferry and the signing of contracts for the construction of 16 barges and a major ferry repair, with a total value of $36.6 million.
The Texas Department of Transportation awarded Conrad a contract for the construction of a 264- by 66- by 15.5-foot passenger/vehicle ferry scheduled for delivery during 2009 with a contract price of $22.5 million. The ferry will transport up to 70 cars and work the Galveston terminal.
Also, The Puerto Rico and Municipal Islands Maritime Transportation Authority has executed a contract for a drydock inspection and general repairs to the mv. Culebra II, a 500 passenger, 150- by 28-foot aluminum hull.
Additionally, Conrad signed contracts with four different customers for the construction of eleven 120- by 30- by seven-foot deck barges, two 120- by 30- by seven-foot spud barges, a 120- by 40- by seven-foot spud barge and two 250- by 72- by 12-foot crane barges….
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