LUY-Development

Tag: mississippi river

  • Barges Hit Mississippi Bridge, Some Drift Into 2nd Bridge

    Barges Hit Mississippi Bridge, Some Drift Into 2nd Bridge

    The I-20 bridge and the U.S. 80 bridge each was hit once earlier this month

    VICKSBURG, Miss. (AP) — Barges hit a 90-year-old railroad bridge over the Mississippi River, and some broke away and drifted back into a parallel newer bridge under which they had just passed on Monday.

    The old U.S. 80 railroad bridge was closed after the barges being pushed by the “Captain Buck Lay” hit three of its piers, Vicksburg Bridge Commission Superintendent Herman Smith told The Vicksburg Post. The commission supervises the U.S. 80 bridge.

    The Interstate 20 bridge just downriver remained open, television stations reported.

    Video shows the 28 barge tow breaking apart and drifting into the Interstate 20 bridge, the newspaper reported.

    Smith said the boat was operated by American Commercial Barge Lines of Jeffersonville, Indiana, and was pushing a tow seven barges long and four across. All 28 barges stayed afloat, Smith said.

    The I-20 bridge and the U.S. 80 bridge each was hit once earlier this month, the newspaper reported.

    The light mast of the “Crimson Duke” hit the underside of the I-20 bridge on April 14; state police closed the westbound lane until engineers had inspected it.

    The “Blake Benton,” pushing a 25-barge tow, hit a pier of the U.S. 80 bridge on April 11.

    The U.S. 80 bridge was built in 1930. It was closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic in 1998, except for events including some road and bicycle races on the former traffic lanes, but the Kansas City Southern Railroad still uses the rails on one side.

  • Louisiana Spillway May Open For Record 3rd Consecutive Year

    Louisiana Spillway May Open For Record 3rd Consecutive Year

    The Corps said Tuesday’s announcement was the result of an unexpectedly high forecast for the river’s crest

    NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A major flood control structure on the Mississippi River may have to soon be opened up to ease pressure on New Orleans levees, federal authorities said Tuesday.

    The river is expected to crest above 17 feet (5.2 meters) at a key New Orleans gauge as early as Friday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said in a news release.

    That would likely lead to the opening of a structure that diverts water through the Bonnet Carré Spillway. It would be the first time the structure has been used three years in a row to keep the river from damaging New Orleans’ levees.

    The spillway was created to limit the river’s rush past New Orleans, keeping it below 1.25 million cubic feet (35,400 cubic meters) per second. But opening the spillway has environmental effects, sending river water and the pollutants it carries into brackish Lake Pontchartrain north of New Orleans and the Mississippi Sound, dropping their normal salinity levels.

    Two extended openings of the structure last year were blamed by Mississippi authorities for feeding toxic algae blooms and killing oysters, dolphins and other sea life. The U.S. Commerce Department declared an economic disaster in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama because of “extreme flooding events in the Gulf of Mexico.”

    A federal lawsuit filed in Mississippi in December by several cities, counties and groups accuses the corps and commission of violating federal law by opening the spillway more frequently. They say the defendants hurt wildlife and localities by opening it for prolonged periods of time without considering the consequences.

    Joe Spraggins, who heads the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, told The Sun Herald in Biloxi, Mississippi, that he hopes the Bonnet Carré will be opened for fewer days this year. He said damage would be less if the spillway could be closed by the end of April. He expects problems if the fresh water flow continues as the sound grows warmer.

    The Corps said Tuesday’s announcement was the result of an unexpectedly high forecast for the river’s crest. The statement stressed that the forecast could change.

  • Mississippi River Down, Flood Precautions Eased At New Orleans Levees

    Mississippi River Down, Flood Precautions Eased At New Orleans Levees

    Daily levee inspections will now drop to twice-weekly.

    NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Mississippi River was below 15 feet at a key gauge in New Orleans on Friday, leading the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to end, for now, a “flood fight” protocol calling for daily levee inspections.

    The corps said in a news release it was moving from a “Phase II” flood fight, implemented when the river hits 15 feet at New Orleans’ Carrollton Gauge, to a “Phase I,” maintained as long as the river is between 11 and 15 feet.

    Phase I calls for twice-weekly levee inspections. And it requires special waivers for certain types of construction or other work on or near the levees.

    Phase II is implemented when the river hits 15 feet at the Carrollton Gauge. It calls for daily inspections and no waivers for the prohibited work.

    After reaching 11 feet and prompting the Phase I level on Jan. 9, the Mississippi hit 15 feet Jan. 27. It fell to just below 15 feet Friday but the Corps said it is expected to stay above 11 feet throughout the next 28 days.