Short-Term Fix in Sight for New Cumberland
but aging locks, dams will 'fail sooner or later'
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
15 December 2016
By Tom Fontaine
URL for article:
http://triblive.com/local/allegheny/11640239-74/lock-cumberland-maynard
STRATTON, Ohio — As the lockmaster at Ohio's aging New Cumberland
Locks and Dam, Willie Maynard is accustomed to dealing with
problems.
About two years ago, Maynard shut down the facility's crumbling
auxiliary lock because structural problems prevented crews from
closing the lock's gates and filling the chamber with water.
At least twice since, Maynard said, he has had to place the
remaining main lock out of service because of problems with the
facility's hydraulic system, which is used to open and close
hulking lock gates that weigh up to 330,000 pounds apiece. The
latest closure began Monday.
Officials hope to reopen the lock on a limited basis Saturday
morning. That doesn't brighten Maynard's spirits.
“Everything is going to fail sooner or later,” Maynard said
grimly, estimating that 90 percent of the facility's machinery and
equipment was built or installed when New Cumberland was
constructed about 54 miles downstream of Pittsburgh between 1955
and 1961. Despite its advanced age (the facility was built to last
50 years), New Cumberland is modern compared to other Ohio River
locks and dams that opened in the 1920s and '30s.
New Cumberland's latest closure has shut down commercial traffic
on the Ohio River. On Thursday, eight boats sat on the river near
the facility waiting for the main lock to reopen.
Their engines idled as they waited, burning fuel to stay in place
and keep the heat running, but their crew members didn't idle.
“There are duties to attend to on the boat, so you try to keep
busy as much as possible. We don't just sit around and play
cards,” said Charles Stewart, 24, of New Orleans, a deckhand on
Marathon Petroleum Co.'s “Canton” that has been sitting upstream
of New Cumberland since Monday. Stewart's crew was relieved by
another crew Thursday afternoon. After getting off the boat with
two pieces of luggage, Stewart trudged through the snow to a van
that would take him and his fellow crew members back to Kentucky,
where their latest four-week tour of duty began.
As for the closed main lock, Maynard said, “It's like having a
one-lane road. When you shut that lane down, you got no road.”
About 30 million tons of goods passed through New Cumberland last
year, including 18 million tons of coal en route to coal-fired
power plants that help provide electricity to homes and businesses
across the region.
New Cumberland's neighbor, the W.H. Sammis Plant, is FirstEnergy's
largest coal-fired power plant in Ohio. It uses about 18,000 tons
of coal a day.
“The closure has impacted deliveries to the plant, but we keep
several weeks of inventory on the property, so the closure hasn't
impacted plant operations,” FirstEnergy spokeswoman Stephanie
Walton said.
Barges through New Cumberland also carried 4.4 million tons of
aggregates such as sand, gravel and stone that are commonly used
in construction; 3 million tons of petroleum products; 1.9 million
tons of so-called primary manufactured products including steel
and iron; and 1 million tons of chemicals.
Debra Calhoun, senior vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based
advocacy group Waterways Council Inc., said the nation's inland
waterways function as a critical “relief valve,” easing congestion
on roads and often reducing costs for companies and, in turn,
holding prices in check for consumers. She noted that a tow boat
with 15 barges can haul as much as 870 semi-trucks.
Maynard and the Army Corps of Engineers has come up with what its
believes will be a temporary fix to reopen the main lock Saturday
morning.
Welders cut and capped faulty hydraulic lines that leaked 150
gallons of hydraulic fluid into the main chamber. To open and
close gates at one of the locks, Maynard said, workers will use a
53-foot work boat to push and pull the gates, which stand about
five stories tall.
Maynard said the complicated process figures to make it take at
least twice as long for boats to get through the lock — from one
hour, on average, to up to 2 1⁄2 hours. The lock, normally open
around the clock, will be open only during daylight hours.
“We operate on the rivers 24/7, so when you reduce the lock's
operations to daylight-only, that really impacts our business,”
said Rich Kreider, vice president of logistics for Washington
County-based towing company Campbell Transportation Co. Inc.,
which has two boats waiting in line to go through New Cumberland.
Maynard and the Army Corps are looking to replace New Cumberland's
hydraulic system with four self-contained hydraulic units that
would sit on top of walls at the facility. The current system
includes underwater lines buried in the sand, making repairs more
difficult and increasing the risk for environmental contamination.
The new system would cost about $2 million.
Army Corps spokesman Jeff Hawk said officials plan to submit a
request for emergency funding to cover the cost. Maynard said it
could take six months to a year to secure the money.
“We can't manage the inland waterways system by emergency
shutdowns,” Calhoun said, “and by trying to reprogram funds meant
for something else to cover emergency repairs. ... We have to have
enough maintenance and operations money to handle catastrophic
issues as they arise.”
Tom Fontaine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at
412-320-7847 or tfontaine@tribweb.com.