Mon, Dec 01 2008
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Published April 20, 2008 09:12 pm - High waters stop traffic Rains shut barge movement down, increase costs By Donna Hales Phoenix Staff Writer Those using the Oklahoma side of the McClellan-Kerr Navigation System are losing a minimum of $1.25 million per day because barges can’t navigate rushing, rain-swollen rivers, officials said. The loss could be twice that amount because about half of those queried in a survey recently didn’t participate, said Muskogee City-County Port Authority Director Scott Robinson. Flows in the river several weeks ago were 180,000 cubic feet per second — while the average is 8,000 cubic feet per second, Robinson said. Thursday, the flow was 95,550 feet per cubic second, he said. The elevation of the river has been averaging 497 feet recently, which is at least 7 feet higher than normal, he said. “The river has been out of control,” said Steve Taylor, vice president of Johnston’s Port 323, Inc., which manages the port facility for the Muskogee City-County Port Authority. That has been the trend as rain storms move across the country. And that means losses to local shippers, he said. “We’re having one of the worst experiences riverwide in a long, long time,” Taylor said. “It’s the worst maybe since 1986 on the river, as far as moving cargo. There’s very little control steering barges downstream.” Johnston’s has been losing $250,000 each month but is paying its 30 employees at the Muskogee port, Taylor said. “It’s just killing us — it’s devastating,” he said. “Customers are having to find alternative loads. This is an extreme situation. It’s generally not this bad on the Arkansas (River).” Even if the rains stop, river traffic won’t be up and moving until after May 1, he said. Rosedale, Miss., is the transfer station where hundreds of barges are trapped right now, Robinson said. A tow will only move about 16 barges at a time, so if service were to start tomorrow, that doesn’t mean your barge will move, Robinson said. Twenty steel coil barges are on the river right now that need to be in Muskogee. “If you use $1,000 as the value of a ton of steel — you’ve got $30 million worth of steel you’ve paid for that you need — and it’s not here,” Robinson said. Port records show that steel accounts for 29 percent of the tonnage at the Port of Muskogee. 
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