Barges stuck at dam restrict shipping
REEDSVILLE, Ohio (AP) – Traffic on a 42-mile stretch of the Ohio River was restricted Tuesday because gates used to control the water level were jammed in the open position by wrecked barges. The barges were keeping the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from closing all eight gates that control the water level between the Belleville lock and the Willow Island lock above Parkersburg, W.Va.
The water is normally 12 feet deep at the Belleville lock, which was built in 1968. By Tuesday afternoon, it had dropped to 6 feet, 9 inches and was expected to fall to 6 feet by evening, the lowest level along that stretch since the late 1880s, when locks and dams were first built on the Ohio. It also the threshold the corps has set to halt all river traffic.
As the water level kept dropping, the corps let some lighter barges through but warned operators of heavier barges to stop.
Salvage crews worked to dismantle the wrecked barges. The corps notified businesses that it may be Sunday before the barges are removed.
“They’ve got a real mess,” said 80-year-old Charles Ramey, who came to watch the salvage crews. “They definitely have a job ahead of them.”
The sunken barges were among nine that broke loose on Jan. 6 during flooding along the river.
The force of the water twisted three of the 175-foot steel barges into horseshoe shapes around the gates’ piers and sank a fourth. The barges left five of the eight gates jammed in the open position.
About 17 towboats, each pushing 12 to 17 barges, move through the Belleville lock daily.
Closing the river would cost barge companies $350 to $400 an hour in down time, said Ann Adams with American Commercial Barge Line LLC, which had seven towboats and barges trapped by the low water.
“They are very expensive pieces of equipment to operate,” Adams said.