Weekly News Summary For December 8-14, 2008:
The Corps of Engineers will continue to do more sophisticated computer modeling through February for the hurricane protection Surge Barrier Gate on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) near the intersection with the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet in Eastern New Orleans, said Col. Michael McCormick, commander of the Corps’ Hurricane Protection Office (HPO).
The structure is undergoing design refinements with “touch” features, adding fendering, dolphins and guide walls, McCormick said. Also planned to be included will be pilings to secure barges while tows are being tripped through the structure.
These features will allow tows to land on the structure protecting the surge gate and slide through during adverse weather conditions.
“The Corps adjusted its approach from a ‘no-touch’ to a ‘touch’ approach in response to the stated concerns of the stakeholders,” said an e-mail from Randall R. Cephus, HPO public affairs officer. “This effort will increase navigation safety along the GIWW. [C]ontinued partnering and communication is the key to success as we move forward with this project.”
“Simply put, we are trying to balance the many competing demands associated with this project,” McCormick said. “This includes flood risk reduction, navigation safety and environmental sustainability.”
The proposed gate is currently planned to be 150 feet wide, a figure dictated by the authorized width of the channel in that location, said Cephus. The 150-foot gate opening has provided some robust exchanges between the Corps and industry stakeholders….
Commissioners of the Port of South Louisiana approved a resolution authorizing the issuance of not more than $150 million in revenue bonds for expansion of the Plains All American Pipeline project in St James Parish.
Houston-based Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., already has a 5.5-million-barrel storage facility at the location and is expanding it in two phases by 1.4 million barrels. The project includes building a dock to receive deep-draft tankers and barges for the facility, which sits on the Mississippi River.
Most of the product will leave by pipeline, but some could be sent out by barge, said a spokesman for Plains.
The port will apply to the state bond commission and the secretary of economic development for the bonds.
The commissioners also approved bids to construct a finger pier at its Globalplex Terminal to accommodate a second Panamax ship and allow barges to be positioned inside the dock. When completed, cargo can be transferred across the new dock between a ship and the barges….
The American Waterways Operators has asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to stop programmed spring flooding on the Missouri River designed to increase spawning of the federally protected pallid sturgeon.
The November 20 letter, a formal response to the Corps’ Missouri River Mainstem 2008–2009 Annual Operating Plan, was signed by Lynn Muench, senior vice president of regional advocacy of AWO, and addressed to Brig. Gen. Will E. Rapp, commander of the Corps’ Northwestern Division. The AWO represents owners and operators of barges, tugboats and towboats.
The letter said a 2007 survey by the U.S. Geological Survey indicates that spring floods are not necessary to trigger spawning behavior. It urged the Corps and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to consider the study, which contradicts Fish and Wildlife studies the Corps relies on for its flood policy.
The letter referred to a 2005 ruling by the Eighth Circuit Court, “which clearly defines flood control and navigation as the primary purposes of the Missouri River system.” The ruling specifically said that in case of conflict, these purposes, established by the Flood Control Act of 1944, overrule compliance with Endangered Species Act mandates….
The mv. Gold Cup was the last towboat to leave St. Paul before the closing of the Upper Mississippi navigation season, according to Mark Davidson of the St. Paul Engineer District.
The Gold Cup, operated by the American River Transportation Company of St. Louis, left pushing three empties downbound on December 1.
Beginning November 20, the Corps closed eight locks and dams from the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam in Minneapolis to Lock and Dam 5A near Winona, Minn….
A new name and new interactive exhibits were unveiled at Paducah’s Water Street river museum November 13. Paducah Mayor Bill Paxton smashed a bottle of champagne across the front steps to rechristen the centuries-old building housing new state-of-the-art electronic simulators and video cameras with live and recorded images of passing river traffic.
As guests sat in chairs along Water Street, still paved in bricks that bore horse-drawn wagons to the former warehouse from steamboats along the Ohio River, museum board chairman Glen Anderson pointed to a temporary sign proclaiming the facility as the River Discovery Center.
“Today, we’re going to get a taste of the future,” he proclaimed, as he described three new high-tech exhibits that were constructed in the museum’s former offices, which have been temporarily relocated during the next phase of expansion. Anderson said the center hopes to add 30 or more exhibits and an aquarium during the next three to five years.
The highlight of the day was the unveiling of a highly detailed and responsive simulator capable of providing three different types of vessel operation: a quick-reacting speedboat, a Coast Guard patrol vessel and a towboat with barge. Each scenario offers a different environment with specific characteristics relevant to the vessel being simulated, but they all contain easily recognizable landmarks and opportunities to navigate through local bridges, past other vessels or make landings at docks. Many guests touring the pilothouse said they felt like they were actually turning and listing as the kids made high speed turns with the speedboat….
The Waterways Journal encourages letters to the editor.
Have something on your mind?
Send letters to: jshoulberg@waterwaysjournal.net.
(Please indicate whether or not your letter is intended for publication.)
