One of two barges that became stuck against gates at the John C. Stennis Lock & Dam in Columbus this weekend sunk at about 6 a.m. today.
Rick Saucer, operations manager with the Tenn-Tom Waterway, told The Dispatch this morning that the barge — loaded with soybeans — now sits on the river bottom except for one end.
The barge was one of three that broke loose Saturday morning from Raymond D. Lucas Memorial Port in Clay County, according to Saucer. One arrived at the Lock & Dam about 7:35 a.m. The other arrived about 8 a.m.
Two of the barges were caught in the John C. Stennis Lock & Dam. Another is stuck somewhere in the river, “above the Lock & Dam,” according to Saucer. The barges are owned by Tom Soya Grain Company, according to Saucer.
Perry Lucas, the director of Raymond D. Lucas Memorial Port, told The Dispatch this morning that of the barges stuck at the Lock & Dam, one was loaded with soybeans, the other with salt.
Lucas said a sudden, “unprecedented rise” in the river because of last week’s heavy rain is to blame for the barges breaking free.
Part of the barge that sunk is underneath the other barge against the Lock & Dam gate, Saucer said. It is also blocking flow through the Lock & Dam.
“We can’t pass as much water as would normally go through there because the barges are in front of the gates,” Saucer said. “So right now, since 6 (a.m.), it has made our headwater go up.”
One of the barges caused damage to the middle gate at the Lock & Dam, though Saucer said the damage has not affected operations.
“Of course, the main issue is getting the barges out now,” he said.
But that, he said, won’t happen until the water level goes down.
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