Many of the locks operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) are over 50 years old. Modern tows, however, typically operate with more barges than can pass through a lock at one time, so the tows must be “cut” into sections.
On the Kanawha River near Montgomery, W.Va., for example, only one barge (or the towboat) can fit in the lock chamber at a time. So the towboat pushes the first barge into the chamber, unhooks it, and backs out.
The first barge is then attached to cables and pulled through and out of the chamber (“hauled through,” in river terms) after the chamber water level is raised or lowered to match the river level on the other side of the chamber.
Then the towboat does the same with the next barge, and subsequent barges, and, finally, the towboat enters the chamber. The barges and towboat are then reconnected at the other side of the lock chamber.
Disconnecting, reconnecting, and moving cables during the hauling-through process makes this one of the most dangerous operations on the river for a deckhand. This process also takes a significant amount of time, so USACE is now building larger lock chambers to help alleviate the concerns of inefficiency and safety.
A barge enters the lock chamber on the Kanawha River. USCG photo by CDR Kevin Kiefer.
Two barges and a towboat back out of the lock chamber (after releasing the first barge into the chamber) on the Kanawha River. USCG photo by CDR Kevin Kiefer.For more information:
Full article and “U.S. Coast Guard Western Rivers Sectors” edition of USCG Proceedings is available at www.uscg.mil/proceedings. Click on “archives” and then “2007-08 Vol. 64, Number 4” (Winter 2007-08).
Subscribe online at http://www.uscg.mil/proceedings/subscribe.asp.
Online survey available at: http://www.uscg.mil/proceedings/survey.asp.
Direct requests for print copies of this edition to: HQS-DG-NMCProceedings@uscg.mil.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comment Policy
We welcome your comments on postings at all Coast Guard sites/journals. These are sponsored by the U.S. Coast Guard to provide a forum to talk about our work providing maritime safety, security and stewardship for the American people to secure the homeland, save lives and property, protect the environment, and promote economic prosperity.
Please note: Anonymous comments have been disabled for this journal. It is preferred that you use your real name when posting a comment. WE WILL POST THE NAME YOU ENTER WHEN YOU SUBMIT YOUR COMMENT. Also, you are welcome to use Open ID or other user technologies that may be available.
All comments submitted are moderated and will be reviewed before posting. The Coast Guard retains the discretion to determine which comments it will post and which it will not. We expect all contributors to be respectful. We will not post comments that contain personal attacks of any kind; refer to Coast Guard or other employees by name; contain offensive terms that target specific ethnic or racial groups, or contain vulgar language. We will also not post comments that are spam, are clearly off topic or that promote services or products.
We will make our best effort to promptly post those comments that are consistent with the Comment Policy, but given the need to manage federal resources, moderating and posting of comments will usually occur only during regular business hours, Monday through Friday. Comments submitted outside of business hours will be read and posted as quickly as possible.