Weekly News Summary For October 12-18, 2009:
Jo-Ellen Darcy was appointed assistant secretary of the Army-civil works by President Obama on August 11, and on September 24, she made one of her first public appearances in her new role as she gave the lunchtime address at the 2009 annual meeting of the National Waterways Conference in Charleston, W.Va.
Although Darcy is not a veteran of the Army Corps of Engineers, Fred Caver, incoming chairman of the NWC, has called her “the most qualified assistant secretary of the Army ever—and the most familiar with the Corps.”
Darcy gave an upbeat talk that avoided contentious issues and sought to stress common ground with attendees.
“The National Waterways Council champions a holistic view of water that is much like my own,” she told the attendees. She said President Obama wants “a better, smarter, greener Corps—but not necessarily a bigger one.”
Darcy noted that the recent appropriation of $5.21 billion is “the highest amount ever budgeted for civil works.”…
At a time of unprecedented challenges to the inland waterways, the National Waterways Conference held its annual meeting in Charleston, W.Va. on September 23 through 25. The meeting featured a heavy roster of influential speakers, including Jo-Ellen Darcy, the new assistant secretary of the Army-civil works), appointed by President Obama on August 11 and making one of her first public addresses in her new position.
Incoming NWC chairman Fred Caver, a longtime Corps of Engineers veteran who is also the founder and chairman of Austin-based consulting firm Caver & Associates, said the current challenges facing the waterways are truly unique.
“I’ve been in this business 40 years, and I’ve never seen as many important changes occurring as are occurring today,” he told The Waterways Journal.
Speakers at the NWC included Ted Illston of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee staff, who is working on several pieces of far-reaching legislation; Terry Breyman, a former Corps of Engineers veteran who is now revising the Corps Principles and Guidelines governing water projects development for the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality, which took over the job from the Corps; Steven Stockton, director of civil works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and Gary Loew, director of the Program Integration Division of the Civil Works Directorate of the Corps….
What if the Inland Waterways Trust Fund were empowered by Congress to raise money against future revenues by issuing bonds? That idea has been often discussed. At the National Waterways Conference in Charleston, W.Va., on September 24, attorney Jorge Romero developed a thought experiment to see just how far such an idea, if enacted, might go toward solving waterways funding problems.
His talk was entitled “Alternative Funding for the Inland Waterways Trust Fund: Is There a ‘There’ There?” Romero is “of counsel” at K&L Gates, an international law firm with an extensive maritime law practice, who has 25 years of experience in maritime financing and contracts.
The IWTF has been declared “insolvent,” but that’s not technically the case, said Romero. It still brings in about $85 million a year in fees contributed by industry from the current fuel tax, and it has no legally binding obligations. The government’s 50-50 cost share brings that revenue stream to about $170 million a year.
Meanwhile, the current “wish list” of waterways projects requires spending about $17 billion over 20 years. The unfunded portion of current projects plus authorized projects equals about $7 billion; the Army Corps of Engineers and the Users Board Inland Marine Transportation System Investment Strategy Team will probably come up with a final figure somewhere between $7 billion and $17 billion. Romero assumed $12 billion for the sake of argument….
Retired marine towing executive W.H. “Bill” Dyer was surprised September 24 when the River Discovery Center (formerly River Heritage Museum) unveiled a plaque naming its recently opened pilothouse simulator in honor of the Paducah marine industry icon and his late father, W.W. Dyer. He thought he was attending a routine board of directors meeting until chairman Alex Edwards asked the members to move to the River Room for a special presentation. There, several of Dyer’s friends and former business associates were on hand to greet him as Edwards read a special proclamation honoring Bill Dyer and his father for their commitment to the local marine industry and the River Discovery Center.
Reading from the resolution, Edwards said, “Both W.W. Dyer and his son, W.H. ‘Bill’ Dyer, have been ardent supporters of the River Discovery Center since its inception, serving on its board of directors and in many other capacities.” He went on to say both have exhibited the highest standards of integrity and professionalism throughout their long careers in the maritime industry.
Many in the industry consider the Dyers stalwarts and strong fighters for the inland waterways but others may not be aware of the family’s mostly anonymous links to many charities within the Paducah community.
Former Mayor Gerry Montgomery, who began efforts to establish the River Heritage Museum in 1989, credited W.W. Dyer (who died in 2000) with planting the seed for the museum’s eventual establishment and construction….
An octagonal wheelhouse sits on a pedestal above the deckhouse, providing the wheelman full 360-degree visibility and giving the boat its distinctive lines. The support structure runs through the deckhouse and down to the hull stringers, making it very stiff and virtually vibration-free. The air conditioning unit is stashed in the wheelhouse trunk.
The twin Cummins KTA-Q19 engines produce a total of 1,200 hp. Cummins Mid-South supplied the engines while Sewart Supply provided the Twin Disc 5222 gearbox with a 6:1 ratio. The boat is fitted with four-blade 66- by 56-inch Avondale wheels.
Generators are rated at 40 kw. Allemond Industries in Harvey supplied the John Deere sets.
Welton Theriot is the boat’s designer. He built in fuel tanks that hold 16,675 gallons, much more than is customary for a fleet boat, but Gnots boats work for Bunge and at times will have to make trips up the Black River to a Bunge terminal in Jonesville, La. The Coon Wise will have fuel tankage for that trip. Water tankage is 5,800 gallons….
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