Lock stuff

When you dewater a lock, you see how much sediment has settled on the bottom, and you get some drift in there, too.

The lockmaster at Willow Island told me that if they want to clean the lock out once the maintenance and repair work is done, they'll use the emergency gate on the upper end to flush the thing out.

A towboat for Trump

A senior moment today prevents me from remembering what they call the staff on the front of a tow. I think I know, but I don't want to sound totally ignorant by using the wrong term.

Normally the staff flies the flag of the company that owns the boat doing the pushing. Sometimes crews use a different flag. I've seen some tows with the black MIA flag.

But yesterday evening I watched a boat go under a bridge and it had this flag up at the head of the tow. I began wondering if it meant something about the political leanings of the crew ...

... then I remembered the boat was the Brenda L. Murray II of Murray American Transportation. That company is a subsidiary of the coal mining company owned by Robert Murray, who leaves people with no doubts that he supports President Donald Trump. The last time I saw Murray in person was here in Huntington a couple of years ago when he was walking toward the VIP entrance to a Trump rally.

Mystery solved.

Photo without comment 8/24/19

M/V AEP Legacy

It passed Huntington yesterday evening at dusk. The sky was cloudy and the light was not the best.

We don't see the boat up this way very often anymore, so I had to get the picture regardless of the light.

M/V Marathon

From a month ago today, two images processed differently to see how they would look.

As seen from Russell, Ky., looking toward Ironton, Ohio.

Willow Island lock closure

Read all about it in this week's issue of the Waterways Journal. Story and photos by my wife's favorite working journalist.

Bridges need sidewalks

Not all Ohio River bridges need sidewalks, but more of them should have been built with sidewalks.

I explain some of that here within my 600-word limit.

Two items in the news

The Point Pleasant River Museum and Learning Center sustained heavy damage in a fire July 1, 2018. The building the museum was in is owned by the city of Point Pleasant, W.Va., The governing board of the museum had wanted to demolish the Civil War-era building and rebuild on the site, but a historic preservationist has been fighting that in court. Museum officials have looked around for a site for a new building. Now the Point Pleasant City Council has voted to auction off the old building next month.

# # #

The old Ohio River bridge at Maysville, Ky. — formally known as the Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge — is in need of repairs.There will be some closures this week while engineers determine what the next steps will be.

M/V Kenova

This was the closest I'd ever been to this particular design of boat, and I must say it looks pretty good in Marathon Petroleum colors.

The M/V Kenova is the former Gianna Hull.

I'm glad Marathon kept the old color scheme from Ashland Petroleum when it bought out Ashland's marine assets.

This was taken at the Willow Island Locks and Dam, where lockmaster Billy Collins ...

... has a pretty good view from his desk.

More from the archives: M/V Arthur E Snider

As long as we're looking through the recent archives, how about this guy on the front of the tow of the M/V Arthur E. Snider of Excell Marine as it was leaving the Greenup Locks and Dam upbound on Oct. 6, 2018.

And here's the boat, if you would like to see it.

I'm not that knowledgeable about Excell Marine or this particular boat, so if anyone wants to fill me in, have at it.

Another photo of the M/V Linda Reed

I found this while looking through my stuff from May. As far as I know, I haven't posted this one ...

... but hey, it's the Linda Reed. She's almost always worth a picture. I just like the looks of this boat. I don't know how she handles or how she rides, but she photographs well.

Point Pleasant River Museum update

FYI

The folks at the Point Pleasant River Museum and Learning Center have given up on rebuilding on their former site and are looking at a couple of pieces of property in beautiful downtown Point Pleasant.