Intracoastal open again; Corps eases flood fight procedures
Things are looking up on south Louisiana waterways.
The Coast Guard reopened the Intracoastal Waterway near Berwick on Friday after a barge split and sank there Feb. 2. And the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has scaled back its flood fight procedures in response to lower Mississippi River levels at Baton Rouge.
But officials are still paying attention to the rivers. The Coast Guard issued a safety advisory for Berwick Bay on Monday. Vessel traffic is limited to eastbound and northbound craft 6 p.m.-6 a.m. and westbound and southbound traffic only is being allowed 6 a.m.-6 p.m.
Tow length limits and minimum speeds are in effect, and southbound tows in the triple bridge area of the bay must have an assist boat if the tows are longer than 400 feet.
At 3 p. m. Monday, the Atchafalaya at Morgan City was at 6.29 feet, or 0.29 feet over the minor flood stage. The river is expected to stay at about that level into the weekend.
The barge that split and sank in the Intracoastal Canal near Berwick was being towed by the Miss Odessa when it ran aground. The Miss Odessa’s attempts to work free resulted in the splitting of the barge.
Salvage operations were completed Friday, according to the Coast Guard. Normal traffic should resume by the end of the week.
At 1:15 p.m. Friday, the vessel queue was 26 tugs and 54 barges southbound, 107 tugs and 296 barges westbound, 87 tugs and 262 barges eastbound, and four tugs and 16 barges northbound.
“We have been grateful for the patience, understanding, and cooperative spirit of our industry partners as we all work to resolve this unfortunate event as quickly as possible,” said Cmdr. Heather Mattern, commanding officer, Marine Safety Unit Morgan City. “Industry has been coming to us throughout the week offering ways we can work together and assist our teams in clearing up what has become a heavily backlogged waterway. Our priority now is to restore normal vessel traffic flow to the critical waterway safely and efficiently.”
Working in conjunction with senior industry partners and members of the area Marine Transportation System Recovery and Safety Committee, a Marine Transportation System recovery plan was developed to expeditiously restore the waterway to normal operation and clear the queued backlog of commercial traffic.
The Corps of Engineers is back to Phase I flood fight procedure after the Mississippi River fell to 11 feet at the Carrollton Street gauge in New Orleans.
The river topped the 11-foot flood stage Jan. 9 and hit 15 feet Jan. 27, kicking off more active measures.
Now the Corps is back to Phase I, which “consists of working with local levee authorities to closely monitor the levees along the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers. Flood fight is a proactive measure to help ensure that the Army Corps can respond quickly to any problem areas that develop along the levee system because of the elevated water levels,” the Corps said.
Additionally, heavy rain is forecast over the next several days. While localized rainfall has minimal impact on river elevations in the area, heavy runoff can impact levee conditions. Out of an abundance of caution, the Army Corps is taking proactive steps by covering areas with exposed clay, levee construction sites and the levee near Charenton on the Atchafalaya River to prevent damage from rainfall.
The Army Corps and state of Louisiana have established allowable distances for certain types of work that can adversely affect the integrity of the federal levees and structures. All work that may impact Mississippi River and Tributaries levees, which includes transport of heavy loads over the levee, disturbance of grass cover, or subsurface work within 1,500 feet of the levee, is prohibited when the Mississippi River is higher than 11 feet at the Carrollton gauge.
Waivers are considered on a case-by-case basis and are dependent on many factors, including surrounding subsurface ground condi-tions.
Permit holders are advised to contact their local levee districts for detailed information regarding their projects and to monitor river stages and forecasts by calling 504-862-2461 or by visiting www.rivergages.com.
