WATERWAYS JOURNAL
Vol. 133 No. 32 SINCE 1887
November 4, 2019
the Weekly
By Jim Myers
WJ Washington Correspondent Washington, D.C.-The U.S. House easily approved a bipartisan bill to ensure the Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) is used for its intended purpose of main- taining federally authorized harbors. Passed by a vote of 296 to 109, H.R. 2440, Full Utilization of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund Act, now goes to the Senate. It would provide roughly $34 billion over 10 years, which backers say would allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge all federal harbors to their au- thorized widths and depths. "Today was a win, years in the making, for our nation's coastal communities, and members of the maritime workforce," said Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), chair- man of the House Transportation and In- frastructure Committee and sponsor of the measure. DeFazio previously had recalled that similar legislative efforts had made it through the committee only to be de- railed by the House Rules Committee. Calling on swift action in the Senate, DeFazio said the bill will provide the funds needed to ensure ports and harbors are fully operational. Top Republican members of the com- mittee also praised House passage of the bill. The American Association of Port Au- thorities (AAPA) expressed support for the bill and applauded DeFazio for ad- vancing the bill and embracing its goals of reforming the HMT. "Passage of H.R. 2440 is a critical first step to solve the problems with the HMT," said AAPA President and CEO Chris Connor. AAPA also pointed to the anticipated release of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee's initial HMT language in the coming weeks as it devel- ops it Water Resources Development Act. Chile Summit Canceled An upcoming international summit in Chile, where President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were expected to meet and possibly sign a much-anticipated trade agreement, has been canceled reportedly because of un- related street protests. "As of now, it appears APEC will not occur in Chile, and it's our understanding the organization does not currently have a secondary site prepared," White House principal deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said. "We're awaiting potential in- formation regarding another location." APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooper- ation) was scheduled to take place in No- vember, and Gidley indicated the adminis- tration is hoping to keep to that schedule for completing Phase 1 of the agreement. "We look forward to finalizing Phase 1 of the historic trade deal with China with- in the same time frame, and when we have an announcement, we'll let you know." Several days earlier, the president told reporters that Phase 1 was "a little bit SEE WASHINGTON PAGE 16
House Advances Bill To Fix Harbor Maintenance Tax
Inside This Issue WJ Editorial: Both Navi- gation Funds Move Closer To Intended Purposes .............. 4
Port of Houston ............................5 ERL/Law Valve Open House .........6 Kirby Earnings..............................7 Yager Barge Launch .....................9 Classified Advertising ................14 Barge Grain Movements .............17 Forthcoming Events ...................17 Professional Directory ................17 Old Boat Column........................18
Dock Upgrade Nears Completion At America's Central Port
The project to revitalize the gen- eral cargo dock at America's Central Port will be the first project complet- ed under Illinois' new Competitive Freight Grant Program. America's Central Port is locat- ed on the Upper Mississippi River at Granite City, Ill. It features two multi- modal harbors: the Granite City Har- bor, a slack-water harbor just north of Locks 27 handling 2,500 barges per year; and the new Madison Har- bor, just south of the locks, provid- ing open-river barge navigation to the Gulf of Mexico. The federally funded Competi- tive Freight Grant Program is admin- istered by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). It is the first time in Illinois' history that funds have been specifically designated for freight projects. The program, which requires a 10-20 percent funding match on the part of the awardee, has awarded a total of $245 million in grants for 23 projects in program years 2018- 2022. These projects include road- way reconstruction, grade separa- tion, intermodal infrastructure, port improvements, technology deploy- ment, truck parking, and interchange construction. The project at America's Central Port is designed to increase last-mile efficiency, reduce freight truck bottle- necks within the port and enhance the intermodal connectivity of the port's Granite City Harbor. The project is expected to increase daily freight traf- fic by 60 percent, where an estimated SEE UPGRADE PAGE 4
International Propeller Club 'Sails Into The Future'
By Shelley Byrne
The International Propeller Club's 93
rd
annual Convention and Conference had nearly 150 delegates "sailing into the future" October 15-17. The convention, held in New Orleans, La., used the phrase as its theme for the three-day conference, and speakers kept the future firmly in mind. Ken Wheeler, a Paducah resident, retired inland water- ways executive and past president of the International Propeller Club, attended and summarized the event for The Wa- terways Journal. Adm. Karl Schultz, commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, spoke in his key- note address October 16 about the need to develop a northern (arctic) maritime route, which will require the United States to have six icebreaker ships. "Today, we only have one," Schultz told the crowd. Shultz noted that Russia and China both have a head start in developing the northern trade route, and that the United States must catch up. U.S. Navy Rear Adm. (Ret.) Mark Buzby, maritime administrator, gave the second keynote address October 17, fo- cusing his remarks on the need for ade- quate management of the National De- fense Reserve Fleet, the U.S. Maritime SEE PROPELLER CLUB PAGE 8
CG Team Discovers 'Blast From The Past'
Bubbles, Lights, Sounds Form Fish Fence At Barkley Lock
By Shelley Byrne
White flashing lights, low-level noises and a stream of bub- bles are meant to frighten Asian carp, but they pose no danger to mariners, say installers of the new Bio-Acoustic Fish Fence (BAFF) at Barkley Lock. "The primary structure is in place, and there are bubbles and sounds and lights that are coming out of the system, but they're still installing some survey parts, and they're still shoring up the primary elements that are in there," Rob Simmonds, fish biolo- gist with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) regional of- fice in Bloomington, Minn., said last week. USFWS turned on the fence October 21 on the downstream side of the lock in Grand Rivers, Ky. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ended navigation closures that were in conjunction with the construction October 30. The structure's christening is scheduled for November 8, with U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, U.S. Rep. James Comer and other dignitar- ies in attendance, according to the Corps. The fish fence is part of a three-year experiment in which bi- SEE BARKLEY PAGE 12
By Frank McCormack
On October 23, Chief Petty Officer Jeremy Shaffer and the Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team New Orleans were working on the west bank of the Lower Mississippi River near Donaldsonville, La., in an area called Smoke Bend. "A week prior, we'd brushed the entire area with our Caterpillar heavy brush cut- ter," Shaffer said. On that particular Wednesday, the team was surveying the area to clear heavy debris and prepare the site for re- building a critical navigation aid consist- ing of a range board and a light. As the team worked the site, one team member came upon a literal blast from the past. "One of the guys picked up the ball and was getting ready to toss it aside," Shaffer said. "I asked, 'What do you have there.' He said, 'I have a cannonball.'" The team member was just joking about the rusty, highly weathered object, but Shaffer couldn't shake the feeling that the ball had to be something more than just a wayward piece of trash. To settle his curiosity, Shaffer did what any inquiring person would do. He Googled it. "I did a quick Google search for Civil War cannonballs, and the first image that came up looked identical," Shaffer said. In short order, Shaffer contacted a colleague at Sector New Orleans, who suggested he reach out to New Orleans' Confederate Memorial Hall Museum, one of the oldest Civil War museums in the United States. From the river batture, Shaffer called Richard Angelico, a retired SEE BLAST PAGE 11
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