LOOKS BACK

APRIL 1963

• A 28', six-ton capacity harbor debris collector was delivered recently to the Puerto Rico Ports Authority, San Juan, Puerto Rico, by Blount Marine Corp., Warren, R.I. The craft was the second Blount debris collector purchased by the Puerto Rico port agency. The rst was a two-ton capacity unit built in 1961. The boat funnels debris against an inclined grid and oats it into a basket held between catamaran type hulls.

• The Auntie Mame, described as the largest barge ever built in the Pittsburgh area, was launched recently at Dravo Corp.’s Nevelle Island, Pa., shipyard for Steuart Transportation Co., Washington, D.C. The tank barge is designed to carry 5,400 bbls. of caustic soda and 34,000 bbls. of oil or asphalt in its nine

APRIL 1973

• All signs point to navigation progress in the Wabash Valley. The Army Corps of Engineers has announced that navigation on the Wabash River looks feasible from the mouth of the Ohio River north to Mt. Carmel, Ill. On the lower stretch of the river, the channel would be compatible with Ohio River shipping. The Southwind Port of Mt. Vernon, Ind., is under construction and is near the spot where the Wabash River enters the Ohio.

• Commercial barge traf c on the

APRIL 1983

• Bergeron Industries Inc., St. Bernard, La., recently signed a contract with Kosmos Cement Co., Louisville, Ky., for the construction of a 195'×52'6"×12' open hopper cement barge. The Bergeron-built barge will also be equipped with an 1,800-ton capacity pneumatic tank which will be designed, built and installed by PnuTank, Houma, La.

• Construction of a new 2,160-cu.- yd.-capacity hopper dredge was recently announced by Great Lakes International Inc., Oak Brook, Ill. The new 205'×48' vessel will be the sixth hopper dredge in the Great Lakes eet, said to be the largest in the Western Hemisphere and one of the largest in the world. The new dredge is scheduled for completion in the fall of 1983 and will be operated by North American Trailing Co., a Great Lakes subsidiary. compartments. The barge will operate between Gulf Coast and East Coast ports. newly opened 9' navigation channel on the upper Alabama River became a reality on April 15, 1972. On that day last year, the lock at the Jones Bluff Lock and Dam, the uppermost dam on the Alabama River, was of cially opened and a barge tow locked through bringing heavy machinery from Houston to Coosada, Ala., located a few miles above Montgomery, Ala.