Tugboat hits bridge.......this is wild

[Raceman]

Here's the link:

http://www.netcopspsi.com/temp/towboat.htm

[TUG]

Dat gus goes tu showyu....
You cant mess wit THU TUG :D :p :eek:

[Raceman]

I've heard T Rex was the skipper of that one.

[mr.clean]

tug boat +crack cocaine= assed out baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[us1]

T-Rex, it couldn't be, the engine was still running.:D

[Cp]

...I'm aware that sound, light and boats are all at a scientific disadvantage, speedwise, in Georigia, but we've already covered this while you were napping....

Check it out:

http://forums.screamandfly.com/showthread.php?threadid=9685

Still the neatest tug driving I've seen lately.

[woodco]

Thats the Coonasses innitiation test .......... :D

[mr fun]

i don't know how many of you have ever worked on big boats but it's like the movie "perfect storm" to see a vessel in "distress" stabs a nerve. i've run engineer and done wheelhouse time, if the watertight doors were shut which i doubt considering the deckhands (probably 2) were on deck to unlash the barges, or maby as they scrambled in they did, none the less she took on a hell of a lot of water (check waterline) it dumped in to the bilge, the air intakes are on the motors and are probably sort of suspended in the openspace above them in the engineroom, (remember these things run in all sorts of bad weather, the direct air is not subject to the elements)and probabably never really got a gulp of water, and being hooked up (wide open for those of you in palm beach) upon impact probably stayed that way all the way under as everybody found something REAL DAMN QUICK to hold onto. they probably never got backed down until everybody was able to stand up again. something that will not soon be forgotten by those involved, again all i can think is son of a bitch!:rolleyes: fun out.

[TTriton]

I e-mailed those pics to all the towboat US towers and I got this additional info..



> >
> > There are some things about me that you are just unaware of, and this
> > instance is a fitting example. Please send this to all, my explanation.
> > And as Paul Harvey used to say..." that's the rest of the story..."
> > It was either late 1978 or early 1979, I have forgotten exactly, but anyway,
> > I am close on either... The river is the Tombigbee River and this happened
> > to be the record high water ever for that area. The towboat you see coming
> > down on the bridge is the Motor Vessel Cahaba owned by Warrior Gulf
> > Navigation out of Mobile, Alabama. Warrior Gulf is a subsidiary of
> > Pittsburg Steel. I know you are familiar with Birmingham's coal mines and
> > steel mills, and this company would haul iron pellets up to Birmingport and
> > off-load to make steel plate. On the return the barges were filled with
> > coal for export at the McDuffie Coal Terminal at the mouth of the Mobile
> > River and at the head of Mobile Bay.
> > The Bridge was the Old Rooster Bridge (since demolished and removed - I saw
> > the explosion to tear it down also) located below Demopolis, Alabama. The
> > land-side highway dead ends at the bluff, and you can still drive to this
> > site and imagine how high the river had to be to get to the bottom of the
> > bridge...
> > The pass or Channel Span of the bridge was located on the far West side of
> > the river, or on the opposite bank from the photographer's standpoint. In
> > normal river flow, we would drop down near the rock bluff and steer through
> > the opening to pass southward with our tows of coal barges. Normal loads
> > were six barges, each measuring 195' X 35' and loaded to a 10' draft. This
> > allowed each barge to carry approximately 2,000 tons of coal (times six =
> > 12,000 tons X 2000 pounds = 24 Million pounds of cargo.) The boat is 1800
> > Horsepower twin engine diesel built in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. It is named
> > after one of the eight "friendly" Indian tribes. It is the Motor Vessel
> > Cahaba. At the "sticks" or helm is Captain Jimmie Wilkerson, a long time
> > river pilot and was my personal friend - since deceased. The river current
> > was so very treacherous that we were forced to drop down to the bridge in
> > the slack(er) water on the left descending bank and when we got down to the
> > bridge, we uncoupled the boat from the barges and let the barges drift down
> > under the bridge. The bottom of the bridge would "shave" the coal stacked
> > in the barges off to a level surface. The next step was to back the vessel
> > upriver and then go over to the far West side and traverse the bridge's
> > channel span with the boat, and run down and catch the barges. It was just
> > too dangerous to try to bring the barges through the bridge span in the
> > current.
> > Anyway, Jimmie dropped down properly and with the entire rest of the crew
> > standing on the barges for safety, he began to reverse his engines to back
> > away. His stern would have to be kept directly pointed into the current or
> > the boat would travel sideways like a kite without it's tail. Captain Jim
> > was a fine pilot, but he made a small mistake and his stern was caught in
> > the current, twisted sideways and the river smashed him into the bridge
> > sideways. Notice that the boat re-surfaced right side up on the down stream
> > side. What luck you say? Nope, WGN ballasted all their vessels with three
> > to four feet of cement in the bottom. The boat was like a little yellow
> > rubber duckie, and came back up like a duckie oughta do. The boat suffered
> > major cosmetic damages, but little flooding because of water tight doors,
> > except in the pilothouse. Notice the picture where the boat is not quite
> > righted and you can see water pouring out of the wheelhouse door. The chair
> > washes out, and Jimmie told me he was holding on to the controls with all
> > his might to keep from going out the drain and into the river. He was very
> > shook up and you can see him approach the tow of barges downriver. Well he
> > didn't get it together quite soon enough and he smashed into the barges,
> > causing further damage.
> > I next saw Jimmie about a month after this and we had a cup of coffee
> > together and talked about the incident. He was smoking a Camel Non-filter
> > but didn't even need an ashtray beacuse his hands were still shaking too
> > much for the ash to build up to any degree.
> > How do I know all this? I was on the boat that went through the bridge
> > immediately before the Cahaba. The Motor Vessel James E. Philpott made the
> > bridge and was headed south at close to 15 MPH. For all you who don't
> > understand, that is very fast on a commercial towboat with that much
> > tonnage.
> > Glad to pass this on to everybody...
> > Captain Michael L. Smith

[mr fun]

:cool: i've been quoted to describe merchant marine endeavers as 98% bordom and 2% SHEAR TERROR. fun out.

[TTriton]

Now that is the gods honest truth.. All the tows that we do If I'm not driving I'm up in the bow asleep.. Or reading a Hot Boat mag searching for the elusive Outboard article that is about a outboard boat that is NOT a 250K boat...