Weekly News Summary For November 2-8, 2009:
All three bids to widen the navigation opening in the Galveston Railroad Bridge for marine traffic were rejected by Galveston County commissioners on October 14 because they were at least $20 million above the projected cost of $73 million.
The Coast Guard, which has declared the bridge to be a “hazard to navigation” because of its 108-foot opening, is overseeing the federal government’s $45 million stimulus share of the project and asked that the bidding process be restarted, the Galveston Daily News reported.
An estimated 14,000 tows pass through the bridge annually. With strong winds and ripping currents, the bridge is hit by tows about once every 1,000 transits, according to Raymond Butler, executive director of the Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association.
The lowest bid, $91.2 million by American Bridge, had many conditions, according to Galveston County Engineer Mike Fitzgerald. Conditions included a schedule that was a year longer than officials estimated and extended closures of railroad transits, to which the railroads objected. Bids from OCCI came in at $104 million and from Orion at $131 million.
By rejecting the bids, officials can now meet with the three construction companies to discuss the project, without some restrictions in place prior to the sealed bids being opened….
The ongoing crisis in waterways project funding was the topic of the first full afternoon session of the Sixth Annual Waterways Symposium in New Orleans October 12–14.
Responding to former Louisiana Gov. “Buddy” Roemer’s earlier remarks (WJ, October 26), Brig. Gen. Meredith W.B. “Bo” Temple, deputy commanding general for civil and emergency operations of the Corps of Engineers, said that on the contrary, the stimulus program did provide “two-fers”—both quick job creation and long-term infrastructure improvements. Direct employment created from the stimulus funding is still being totaled, but the numbers are coming back as 26,000 to 50,000 direct jobs and as many as 100,000 secondary jobs, he said.
The Corps is reviewing all of its projects, he said, because a number of contracts are coming in below cost estimates and some divisions will not be able to spend all their funds in FY 2009. The excess funds will be made available for other shovel-ready projects, he said.
Gary Lowe and Stephen Little discussed the Inland Marine Transportation Systems Investment Strategy Team, called the “White Paper Working Group.” Lowe is chief of the Corps’ Programs Integration Division, while Little is president and chief executive officer of Crounse Corporation and chairman of the Inland Waterways Users Board. The White Paper’s purpose is to present Congress with a way to fund Corps projects that does not take decades to complete, along with the escalating costs associated with the years of construction….
The 600- by 110-foot lock, at Upper Mississippi River Mile 241.4, will be closed for major maintenance. Four sets of failing culvert valve machinery will be replaced, allowing the lock to remain in operation longer during high-water periods. In addition, bulkhead slots within the lock chamber will be installed to facilitate faster emergency repairs to the miter gates and lock chamber, the Corps said.
The closure was originally scheduled to begin on December 15, 2009, and last until March 15, 2010. But with a late harvest this year, the Corps—with input from industry—said it would move the closure back by about 2-1/2 weeks.
The new closure dates are January 4 until April 4, 2010….
The 1,200-foot chamber of the Markland Lock was dewatered on October 28, and Army Corps of Engineer personnel were cleaning mud and silt from a sunken miter gate leaf prior to inspecting it.
The other lock gate leaf, which was left hanging on its pintle, was placed on a DeLong barge by the Corps’ Henry M. Shreve floating crane on October 19, according to the Louisville District’s Web site. The same day, work began by Ohio River Salvage Inc., Crescent, Pa., which was awarded a $252,000 contract three days earlier to provide equipment and services to pull and salvage the submerged miter gate leaf off the bottom of the bulkhead sill. Carol Labashosky, public affairs spokesperson for the Louisville District, said both gates would eventually be placed on the barge.
Traffic on the Ohio River has been slowed since the lock gate leaf fell into the lock last month while a vessel was transiting through. Each leaf weighs about 250 tons. Traffic must now move through the 600-foot auxiliary lock, meaning large tows must be broken up and reassembled.
The Markland Locks’ performance level was rated “D” by the American Society of Civil Engineers, mainly due to the risk of miter gate failure. The 52-year-old gates are corroded and cracked….
AEP River Operations has renamed the three lower river towboats it bought recently from American Commercial Lines.
The St. Louis-based company renamed the Miss Kae-D, Jeffrey J. Stover after its senior port captain, who started his river career in 1982 and joined AEP River Operations as a captain in 1996.
The Norb Whitlock is now the Ron W. Callegan, named for the captain of the barge line’s towboat Robert D. Byrd. Capt. Callegan started working on the river in 1978. He joined AEP River Operations (then MEMCO) in 1992.
The new name for the W. J. Barta is Robert L. Posey. The namesake, who started his career as a deckhand in 1970, joined AEP River Operations in 1992 as a captain. He is currently captain of the mv. Christopher Parsonage….
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