Weekly News Summary For October 5-11, 2009:

Gate Failure Closes Main Markland Chamber

A long-predicted event occurred in the early morning of September 27 when a miter gate in the main lock chamber of Markland Lock & Dam on the Ohio River came off its hinges and fell into the water. A miter gate is composed of two “leaves” or doors that fit together like the mitered corner of a picture frame, pointing upstream. The gates allow the lock chamber to be filled or emptied to adjust water levels.
The failure made national news as it closed the 1,200-foot main lock chamber at Mile 531.5 near Warsaw, Ky., forcing tows to break up to use the 600-foot auxiliary lock. Passage through the main lock can take about 35 minutes for a large tow; passage through the smaller auxiliary lock can take up to three times as long.
Lockmaster Gary Birge told local news station WLWT that the situation was “catastrophic,” and said, “This is probably your worst nightmare. I mean, this is the kind of thing you don’t want to ever happen.”
On September 28, sonar and a remote operated video camera (ROV) were used to locate the fallen miter gate leaf, on the bulkhead sill at the bottom of the lock chamber. “The video of the pintle of the hanging leaf is not clear enough to determine if the leaf is still on the pintle,” said Gene Dowell, operations manager for the locks, in an e-mail update. The other leaf, still attached, requires stabilization. Then it will be removed, according to Dowell. A hydrographic survey using sonar gave a three-dimensional picture of the leaf….

Congress’ Agenda Includes Several Waterways Bills

Several ambitious bills currently progressing through Congress could have major impacts on the waterways, and navigation, if they become law. Several of the most important were discussed by Ted Illston, counsel to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. That is a subcommittee of the influential Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in the House of Representatives chaired by Rep. James Oberstar (D.-Minn.). Illston spoke at the annual meeting of the National Waterways Conference Inc. in Charleston, W.Va. on September 23.
Illston said the committee has four major chores on its plates right now. Its current highest priority is the Surface Transportation Authorization Act, which covers all forms of transportation and had just received a three-month extension September 23, the day before Illston spoke to the NWC meeting.
Oberstar’s committee will shepherd the 2010 Water Resources Development Act through Congress. Illston said the committee wants to see a regular biennial WRDA process. He blamed the seven-year delay between the last two WRDAs on “a lack of cooperation from the last administration.” Illston said WRDA requests will be collected by mid-October, and he hoped the bill would be introduced in the spring….

Conference To Discuss Transition To Vessel Inspections

A fuel oil spill in the Houston Ship Channel on the evening of September 25 resulted in its closing as authorities contained and cleaned up the spill.
The Coast Guard’s Sector Houston-Galveston reported in a September 26 news release that a call it received at about 9 p.m. reported that a 458-foot vessel, the Chemical Supplier, had collided with Buffalo Barge #251, near Brady’s Island and the I-610 bridge. The motor vessel was turning when it ruptured a fuel tank on the barge, leaving a two-foot by four-foot gash about five feet above the water line.
Crewmembers aboard the Chemical Supplier immediately began transferring fuel oil from the damaged tank, but about 10,500 gallons of the tank’s total 22,500 gallons escaped. None of the Chemical Supplier’s cargo of airplane fuel leaked. By about 1:25 a.m., the oil leak’s source was secured, the Coast Guard said.
“We immediately deployed booms to contain the spill and skimmer to recover the spilled oil,” said Capt. James Whitehead, deputy commander of Sector Houston-Galveston. “The Coast Guard is working diligently with partner agencies to reduce environmental impact.”…

Hope Delivers Two More Towboats To Higman

The boats are the 43rd and 44th in Higman’s line of vessels and the 31st and 32nd to be built by Hope Services in Dulac, La. They give the Houston-based petroleum transporter one of the youngest fleets in the industry; in 1986, for comparison, the company had 10 boats and 22 tank barges.
Last year, Higman put into service the Hope-built boats Capt. Jack Higman, Preston N. Shuford, John T. McMahan and Mark Flynn. Earlier this year, it put into service the Alliance and the Erik Salén. Two others from Hope are scheduled for delivery in March and June next year, while another is under construction at Direct Marine Services.
The Kyle A. Shaw and Miss Sarah, like their sister vessels, measure 72 by 30 feet with a draft of 10 feet. Their 1,800 hp. is produced by twin Cummins KTA38-MO diesel engines from Cummins Mid-South matched to Twin Disc gears with a ratio of 6.14:1. The boats have 73- by 56-inch four-blade propellers. A pair of Cummins 6B series 75 kw. generators supply auxiliary power to each boat.
The new vessels each have two steering and four flanking rudders controlled by a full follow-up, electric-over-hydraulic system.…

WJ Editorial: Predicted Gate Collapse At Markland Occurs

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