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November 14, 2005 -- Vol. 5 Issue 46 Written by Jack R. Simpson (unless otherwise noted), owner of J.R. Simpson & Associates, Inc. and contributing editor to The Waterways Journal.
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 In This Newsletter:
Ever Wonder
Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker? A Personal Note From Jack
 As one reads the stories of Gulf Coast corruption and mishandling of just about every endeavor, the perception is that something is terribly rotten in Denmark. Denmark, in this case, extends all the way from the Gulf to Washington, D.C. One gets the distinct impression that the federal government could not operate a lemonade stand with efficiency. Not only has government gotten so large that it is unacceptably inefficient, but it is corrupt.
One major agency of that government has been (and now more than ever) the target of Engineers. The latest news is that just about every levee or floodwall ever built by the Corps in New Orleans will be scrutinized to determine if it was planned wrong, fraudulently constructed or just never maintained properly. A Dutch flood-control planner has been called in to evaluate the situation. (Louisiana state Atty. Gen. Charles Foti announced on November 7 that his staff is looking into whether poor construction or design flaws played a part in the collapse of canal floodwalls…and whether criminal or civil action is warranted.) Criticism of the Corps, at one level or another, has gone back probably as long as the Corps has existed. A major example is the construction of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet. There has always been opposition to it. Now it is being said that levee failure along the 76-mile MRGO is responsible the complete destruction of St. Bernard Parish. Critics have called for the closing of the MRGO for years, but the Corps has turned a deaf ear, or so we’re told. I do not know to what degree this is true. I only know what I read. As it relates to flood wall failures, we are being told that sheet pilings used in the construction flood walls and levees are many feet shorter (driven to less depth that required) than they should have been, opening up charges that much fraud has taken place. This leads to the perception that Corps oversight of work being done by private contractors was been lacking. Let me use (eventually) what might seem to be an absurd example to explain the business of oversight. First, there are hundreds of Corps projects that are at one stage of construction or another, at one stage of maintenance of another, or just sitting with nothing happening. One would assume that if oversight is to be efficient, every single project that is underway would have a person from the ranks of the Corps assigned to keep an eye on the work to see that it was going as planned. One also would assume, perhaps incorrectly, that planning is all good. Well, we know that probably is not the case. The MRGO may or may not be an example of that. But once Corps plans have been gone over, chewed over, evaluated and examined to the degree that everyone has agreed they are okay, then the Corps’ site cop should be making sure that the specifications are being followed to the letter on the job he has been assigned to watch. When oversight fails, then we can expect the kind of charges that are surfacing now from the levee and flood construction projects on the Gulf. As an editorial writer for “The Waterways Journal” for nearly 30 years, I have always put forth the message that the Corps’ budget has always been too low. I said the same for the Coast Guard. Now, considering homeland security responsibilities, both budgets are too low. But the point I want to make most clearly is that I have never considered myself informed sufficiently about Corps projects, nor have I ever believed that I had enough confidence, to defend the agency (without qualification) as criticisms arose about various projects. I think the allegation that budgets have been too low is defensible. But I do not believe anyone can bet his paycheck that all Corp projects have been planned correctly, carried out efficiently, or that they have all been justified. That’s an engineering thing, and we are not engineers. Nor are many of the critics of the Corps. I am not suggesting here that the environmentalists are right. There are as many allegations that can be leveled at environmentalists and Corps critics as there are sands in the sea. Their motives are not always pure. Beyond that, they can be just as right or wrong about their project judgements as the Corps. And, we all have believed that the Corps has the expertise. But the field of endeavor is so broad. It ranges from restoring sandbars to constructing dams to issuing permits for proposed private projects along navigable waterways. I am not expert in any of these fields. Let’s enter another phase of this discussion. It has taken me a long time to get around to my absurd example, but here it is. You don’t put a fox in the coop to guard the chickens. The efficiency of oversight, no matter whether it be over a Corps project or checking trucks at the U.S./Mexican border, depends upon the quality of the overseer. If the heart of the person overseeing an operation is really not in it, oversight fails. We once had a St. Louis District Engineer who was “greener” than even the Corps preferred. During his reign as district engineer, some things were done quite differently than they might have been under different leadership. I’m not saying the “green” district engineer was wrong. I’m saying that he was different, and he operated under a different set of priorities. Oversight depends on the overseers likes and dislikes and dedication to service. If a border guard on the line between Mexico and Ustados Unidos believes in his heart that Mexicans should be allowed into this country without restrictions, then his performance at border guarding may leave something to be desired. The perception we have been given in the aftermath of Katrina and Rita is that life in all of Louisiana, particularly New Orleans, is corrupt. To what degree that this is true, I don’t know. But I can tell you that I have friends who live there, and they believe it. They expressed this belief long before the hurricanes came. And I am receiving first hand reports of corruption, with millions of dollars going to the wrong people, filling pockets that should not be filled. And our U.S. Government is all part of this. The reports coming out about the Federal Emergency Management Agency and its handling of money that finances debris removal are, at least on the fact of them, terrible. As we consider the early allegations leveled at the Corps in the aftermath of those hurricanes, we know that news accounts revealed allegations of Corps failures and information indicating that the Corps has wanted to improve the levees for decades but never was given sufficient money. We were informed, true or not, that some money provided for levee work was hijacked and used for other projects. We saw in those reports of failure, true or not, that the Louisiana governor and the New Orleans mayor were not up to the task at hand and handled it poorly. So, amid all of these reports, we are now seeing reports of seemingly qualified engineers, not connected with the Corps, leveling criticisms about the inefficient construction of levees and floodwalls. They are alleging that the plans for these levees and floodwalls, were wrong. This is a fine to-do about something that may be true. So what are we to think? Well, what I know for fact is that the Corps, an agency I have often defended when it came to budgets, has an increasingly bad image. Despite the fact that the agency may have constructed thousands of good projects around the country that have lived out their design lives efficiently, the controversy surrounding New Orleans and the region is not going to go away. It is not helping the Corps’ image. How will the agency mend fences? Will it even try? I don’t know. There is no question that there will always be Corps critics, some with justifiable cause. How can we deny that now that we’ve seen the news about the MRGO? How can we deny that when the Corps, a few years back, went back and undid what it had done to a Southern river because the results were not what were planned, and critics fought till they got the thing turned around? It lends support to the idea that nobody is perfect. I think we can conclude that the Corps, a very large agency, has extremely great potential for good and, if oversight is poor, great potential for poor results. Has the fox been put in charge of the chicken coop on some projects? We have always had our crooks. Just read the newspapers. They range from preachers to corporation heads, to fast-food store clerks to bankers. To paraphrase Scriptures, “The crooks will always be among us.” Too frequently we find officials who are in charge of hiring, knowingly hiring people the law says they should not hire. So to believe that some fraud was not committed against the Corps (and the United States) by private contractors working on levees and floodwalls would be absurd. It is a question of degree. To say that some overseers, if there indeed were overseers, did a miserable job, is probably accurate. Example: When I attended the University of Missouri at Columbia, Mo., a contractor was found guilty of fraud. This contractor had been building university projects for years. In one building, it was discovered that floors designed to be four inches thick were only three inches thick. In the student union building, university officials wanted to place a large, heavy piece of equipment at a certain location on an upper floor. When they checked the building’s plans against the actual building, they discovered that a very large, load-bearing beam had been left out. In both of these cases, the floors were not capable of supporting the weight they were designed to support. The university had paid for materials never used and for labor never performed. Considering the price of union construction workers, is it not easy to see how much money the contractor was able to pocket fraudulently because of his dishonesty? But what if a subcontractor did the dirty deed? Was it he, then, who pocketed the money fraudulently? If so, it sounds like the primary subcontractor did not provide adequate oversight. This seems to be the situation the Corps is in. In addition to all the claims of bad planning, hijacked funds, dishonest local and state government, lack of local support, and lack of federal support, adequate oversight in the building of the New Orleans area levee and floodwall system seems to have been missing. So where do we go from here? Stay tuned. For Those Inclined To Pray
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(Editor’s note: What will follow in this section will be much condensed versions of many, many news stories that have been flooding the news channels.) Floodwall Sheet Piles Too Short The New Orleans “Times Picayune” reports that sheet piling used to support the failed floodwall on the 17th Street Canal in New Orleans was seven feet shorter than the Corps said it was. This claim, put forth by independent engineers studying the failures, is said to strengthen the argument that faulty design and construction played a role in the canal breaches that flooded much of the city during Katrina. Corps Wants Boats And Barges Off Of Levees The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it hopes to have all of the levees in the New Orleans area rebuilt and restored to pre-Katrina hurricane and flood protection by June 2006. But it wants all of the boats and barges that were pushed onto levees during the storm removed so it can proceed with its work. Right now the agency is working around them. Owners are being told, “It is now time to come get your boat.” The Corps is looking for about 125 owners. Tugboat Captain Sentenced To Life (an update) Houma, La., tugboat Capt. Louis Ledet, 42, has been sentenced to life in prison for shooting deckhand Ryan Andras, 26, of Thibodaux point-blank with a .30-caliber pistol while the men were aboard the Mv. Captain EJ. The June 18, 2003, killing is said to have resulted from horseplay that went sour. North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana To Appeal Missouri River Plan The states of North Dakota and South Dakota (jointly) and Montana (separately) plan to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to consider whether the maintenance of the Missouri River shipping channel overrides fishing and recreation. Several court rulings have held that according to the Flood Control Act of 1944, it does. ACL Plans To Add 100 Jobs At Jeffboat Shipyard American Commercial Lines (ACL) vice president Jerry Linzey has announced that the company plans to add 100 jobs at its Jeffboat shipyard in Jeffersonville, Ind., to meet expected demand for barges. He said the firm expects to reach about $140 million in revenue this year at Jeffboat, and that it anticipates reaching about $300 million in revenue by 2007. In its first public earnings report, ACL reported third-quarter net income of $3.5 million, or 15 cents per share, diluted, compared with a net loss of $1.5 million during the same period last year. Cape Girardeau Officials Orders Barge Be Removed From Riverfront City officials at Cape Girardeau, Mo., have ordered Neal Day of that city, to tow away from the riverfront a barge he hopes to use for a floating barge and grill. City Manager Doug Leslie said the city will not allow the 30-by-90-foot barge to remain where it is because it interferes with the ability of the big passenger boats to dock at Riverfront Park. Day said he would comply with the order and that his intention was never to leave the barge at that location. He planned to site the barge 150 yards upstream where there is mooring. Day, who operates a trucking company in Sikeston, Mo., needs city approval for his project and, so far, he hasn’t received it. Northrop Grumman Says Damage To Gulf Shipyards Tops $1 Billion Northrop Grumman officials say that hurricane damage to their Mississippi and Louisiana shipyards exceeds $1 billion and that production delays could cost the defense contractor millions more. The Pascagoula shipyard was inundated by 8-12 feet of water. Damages at the Avondale facilities were minimal because storm surge destruction did not occur. It is reported that the Navy has asked for $2.7 billion to offset the storm’s impact on operations o the Gulf and that most of that much of that money will go to Northrop Grumman. A Change Of Pace (Tragedy Remembered) It was 30 years ago on November 10 that the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Michigan. The memory of the tragedy has been kept alive by “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”, a ballad by Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot. Another Change Of Pace (Arctic Drilling) On November 9, leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives dropped from (budget legislation) attempts to push through a hotly contested plan to allow drilling for oil in the Alaskan wildlife refuge. They also dropped plans to permit states to allow oil drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. (Editor’s note: The ultimate goal of critics is to reduce the use of fossil fuels. In the meantime, our dependency upon foreign oil will increase unless we are concerned enough to reestablish lower highway speeds and/or demand that the gas mileage of automobiles be greatly increased.) And Yet Another (An Update On Cement-Plant Construction) It has been a couple years since we reported on efforts by Holcim AG to build a cement plant at St. Genevieve, Mo., and environmental efforts to halt or delay the project that was first proposed six years ago. The plant, which has risen in cost 50 percent since it was first planned, will be located 40 miles south of St. Louis. Concerns were expressed for years over air pollution, mining and wetlands destruction. The company now has all of its ducks in a row and construction will take place. It is expected that the operation will provide 1,000 jobs at the peak of construction and 200 once the project is complete. During the first 11 years, Holcim will contribute $35 million (in lieu of taxes) to St. Genevieve County schools and other county entities. A contractor has not been selected, but site preparation is underway and construction has begun on a Mississippi River harbor. Eighty percent of the plant’s output will move by barge. The company also has a plant upriver at Clarksville, Mo. Omigosh — Another (An Update) Scrutiny Directed At Pilot In Fatal Ohio River Crash Even though the law does not require that pilots put look-outs at the head of their tows, a Coast Guard hearing into an Ohio River fatal mishap is placing much focus on the pilot’s failure to do so. Isaac Ross, pilot of the Titletown USA, decided not to use a designated look-out when he sought to pass through the Port of Cincinnati with 15 barges on August 25. The tow struck a houseboat, killing four people, “The Kentucky Post” reports. The lone survivor on the boat claims the boats lights were on. Ross said he saw no lights and did not see the houseboat on radar. One veteran towboat pilot, Capt. James Jamison of Marion, Ky., testified that under the circumstances, as explained during the hearing, he would have posted a look-out. Capt. Jerry Tinkey, a retired inland waterways consultant at the Center for Maritime Education in Paducah, testified for Bluegrass Marine, saying that Ross was able to maintain a 360-degree circle of awareness around his craft with the assistance of radar and without posting a look-out. Conclusions from the two-day hearing are not expected for six months. Back To The Hurricanes (Labor Shortages Force Bollinger To Turn Down Contracts) Bollinger Shipyards, Inc., has, because of post-hurricane labor shortages, been forced to turn down two contracts estimated to be worth $850 million. The lost business includes $700 million to produce petroleum product tankers and $150 million to build offshore workboats. Company officials said both contracts could be revived again in the future when working conditions became more favorable. Feds To Spend $7.6 Million To Get Crop Shipments Moving The U.S. Government has announced it will spend $7.6 million for private contractors to get 175 barges back in operation by unloading from them crops damaged by Hurricane Katrina. They want to reduce the backlog on grain shipments. This year’s harvest is well underway, and farmers are feeling the effects of the barge shortage. In the past two months, according to the Associated Press, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has spent $10.7 million on private contractors to unload more than 100 barges. AP says the USDA has also paid incentives to store excess corn and wheat and reroute nearly 300,000 metric tons of corn, wheat and soybeans through ports in the Great Lakes and the Pacific Northwest. It was reported that due to transportation problems in New Orleans, Midwest grain is piled high on the ground and prices are down. Workers Getting Stiffed In Mississippi Relating somewhat to our “Personal Comments” section on the hurricane aftermath, it has been reported that Katrina debris-cleanup workers are being stiffed in Mississippi, many of them being paid too little or not being paid at all. Most are illegal immigrants, who have little or no recourse when contractors skip town, the Associated Press reported. Some had paid as much as $2,400 to be brought into the region to work at jobs they were told would pay as much as $10 an hour, more than three times what they were being paid at home. Labor contractors are skipping with money, it was reported. There are also criticism that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is not paying its bills, a report that will need to be confirmed in coming weeks. It is reported that some of these workers are just leaving the area. Low Water On Mississippi Halts Barge Traffic Near Lake Providence It was reported on November 11 that low water closed a nine-mile stretch of the Mississippi River near Lake Providence, Miss., that day. The Coast Guard stopped barge traffic at 11:27 a.m. CST and established a safety zone. Vessels had to get permission to transit the area. It was expected that the zone might be in effect for two or three days. Crossing The Bar
As reported by “The Waterways Journal.” John F. Gillespie, 79, Shreveport, La., a key figure in the construction of the Red River Waterway project, died October 31. Capt. Dennis Rex Lane “Goose” King, 44, a pilot for John W. Stone Oil Distributor, died October 27. Col. Charles Dorsey Maynard, former Little Rock District engineer, died October 22. During his time with the district he oversaw construction of 13 locks and dams on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System. Following his retirement, he served as chairman and president of the Water Resources Association of America, president of the Arkansas Basin Association, and chairman of the Arkansas Waterways Commission, among other waterway advocacy groups. Robert M. Clary, 86, Orange, Texas, founder and chairman of the Orange Shipbuild Company, died October 6. advertisement
The River School - Deck and engineer licenses, radar observer, tankerman, fire and water safety courses, video programs. Travel classes in convenient locations. (800) 238-7113 www.riverschool.com From Our Readers
Re: IDs Of Boat Near Levee Not Correct [I] just wanted to let you know of some incorrect information on your boat photo page. In the listing showing the Anita M and Ann Peters on ground in Davant, you say the boat shoved into the hill next to them is the Diane Oak. I work for TECO, and that is not the Diane Oak it is in fact the Mv. Martha Lynn . If you look at pictures of the Oak, you will see that while it is a triple screw, the stacks are different and the Martha Lynn is significantly taller than the Oak, just wanted to let you know. Love your page. Mike Scherer Crew Mv. Legend (Editor’s note: I may have misunderstood what the photographer wrote about the picture. At any rate, we always are thankful for correction when we are wrong. The Photo Center ID will be corrected.) Re: Herkules XV (1) Picture I enjoy reading the Bitts & Bytes newsletter (I guess I should subscribe) and the photos that come every week. Lots of good information and photos about the inland river industry. Thanks. Of interest was the photo of Herkules XV #1. Very neat industrial photo. Your comment about the unusual barge covers picked my interest and looked closer at the photo. Maybe Mr. Kraus can confirm this but I think the “covers” are railroad hopper cars loaded with coal. I think a railroad line may be obscured by the ground or riverbank in the foreground. The European railways use railroad cars that are much different looking than those in the USA. From what I have seen in past photos, their hopper cars have a rounded design with a narrow opening in the top. I also noticed that the cars are marked with DB and at the far right DB Cargo. This would be Deutsche Bahn —German Federal Railways (not sure of proper name now since many “overseas” railroads have been privatized or semi- privatized). I am not an expert on overseas railroading but find it quite interesting. I am a railroad enthusiast (and also inland river and lake boat fan) here in the USA (and also an employee in the railroad industry, I work for Norfolk Southern Railway). Hope this adds some insight. Thanks again for all the good info through your column. Maybe I can get off my duff and send some photos of boats in the Pittsburgh, PA area for the photo section. I have shot much in the area but currently do only slides and some prints. I need to get that scanner, someday soon!! Eric Johnson Bethel Park, PA (near Pittsburgh) (Editor’s note: Thanks to Eric, we now have a better idea about the foreground of this picture. I hasten to explain that Hape Kraus did not suggest the idea of barge covers. That was my misconception. But now, assuming Eric is correct, we know more about the picture. We can contact Hape and confirm it, then correct the description.) Re: Untrue Stories Of Atrocities I don’t know if this is the proper way to write but: Re the article about the GI who related unsubstantiated war atrocities. Can anyone think of someone else who did the same thing and ended up married to the widow of a billionaire and then going on to becoming U.S Senator?! I suppose some figure that if you are going to sell your soul, why sell cheap?! Ralph Stilwell Lock 12 (Old) Monongahela R. Needs Information Can anyone tell me where Capt. Carl R. Wright was from , [where he] worked, etc.? Ernie WRIGHT Re: Homeland Security Jack: I couldn’t agree more with your assessments of the importance of homeland security as it applies to our nation’s waterways, particularly its inland waterways. A lot of emphasis has been placed on the deep-water ports, and that is as it should be; however, I am a strong advocate of homeland security in our shallow draft ports. The industry participants in the Port of Memphis’ Area Maritime Security Committee take the security issue very seriously. We have been meeting since October 2001. Since the Western Rivers Area Maritime Security Plan was drafted and then later promulgated, our committee has held 27 consecutive monthly meeting averaging more than 35 members attending. Most of the citizens of our country don’t realize what the inland waterways do for them and what the waterways don’t do to them. You note in Bitts & Bytes all of the obvious advantages we in the industry know about safe, energy efficient, environmentally sensitive with regard to air and water quality while reducing congestion. People are not troubled by barges on the interstates or at grade crossings. The heavy lifting of movements of bulk cargoes that everyone uses almost daily doesn’t seem to make any impression on our citizens. In Memphis, anyone that uses electricity or drives a vehicle would be immediately impacted by a serious disruption of our inland waterways. Why people can't understand that a serious disruption of our inland waterway system from either a natural or man made disaster would be devastating to our nation’s economy is beyond me. As we have noted for years, our industry of port, terminals and carriers have not done a very good job of telling the [inland river] story to our citizens and legislators. I am rambling and preaching to a choir member. Forgive me. I guess what I am saying is I would like to see more articles and notes on homeland security as it applies to our ports, terminals, dams and bridges to bring home to our citizens what could happen in their own back yard. I really enjoy Bitts & Bytes and look forward to its arrival each week. Keep up the good work. Thanks for your timely comments and observations. Incidentally, I am writing…to agree and thank you for what you do. Donald C. McCrory Executive Director Memphis & Shelby County Port Commission (Editor’s note: We are in concert. Perhaps we can plan for stories that will make it more clear to the public how important homeland security is along the rivers. Admittedly, we have run stories about the concerns of those who have been inconvenienced by it. Thanks for your kind words.) Boat Photo Center
 Just as a practical matter, I ask that photo contributors check the Photo Center to see if the boat pictures they are about to post are very close to pictures that may already be in the center. The object is to save space when a similar posting will not offer anything new. Obviously there will be exceptions, such as picturesque sunsets showing a boat that has appeared before. But you get my point. Thanks. We have another dozen pictures for you this week.
Contributions include two pictures of the Quaker State from Joe E. Brown (Towboat Joe); the Erna H. Honeycutt and two of the Dell Butcher from Jim Mihalek; two keelboat pictures from Jesse Lybarger; the Marine Star from Ed Rahe; and the Justin Paul Eckstein, Gregory David, Cindy L. Erickson, and Big D from Leon Puckett. Book Beat
The 2006 edition of “The Inland River Record” should arrive at my office this week. We are now accepting orders again on the web site. Naturally, you can also buy orders by calling Jack at 314/921-4419 and using your Visa or MasterCard. Here is the new listing:
Inland River Record 2006 (+CD w/pdf containing copy of book) - by The Waterways Journal (Updated and published annually since 1945.) Hard cover. Nearly 500 pages of alphabetically arranged descriptive listings on more than 3,000 vessels currently operating the Inland Waterways. There are hundreds of changes in the 2006 edition. They include: new or reinstated boats, ownership or company name changes, name changes, engine/horsepower changes, reduction gear changes, miscellaneious changes, address changes, and vessels removed. Usually same-day shipping! List Price: $37.50 Our Price: $32.50 You Save: $5.00 (13.3%) The Gift Shop
Models And Caps Discontinued Because Cherokee Barge and Boat has announced interest in advertising its multitude of river-related products in our newsletter and perhaps on our web site, we have discontinued handling the scant choice of barge models and the American Steamboater caps that we previously carried in our gift shop. These products will be available in a larger variety from Cherokee, so it will actually be more convenient for those desiring to buy models. By ordering directly from Cherokee, customers can get the precise selection with boat and company name, type of barges, etc. that they want. This is a service we could not offer. 
Steamboat Clock & Barometer - The hinged porthole-style case is solid brass with a lacquered antique finish. It has quartz movement for convenience and accuracy and runs on one AA battery. The matching Steamboat Barometer has visible aneroid barometer movement, and the antique brass case is hinged so that the movement is accessible from the front.280522 Steamboat Quartz Clock $136.49 280722 Steamboat Barometer $146.99 Tow Talkin'
November 14, 2005 By Kathy Flippo  Did another trip to Minnesota the 4th through 7th. Tow watching was pretty thin this time. Got clear to Brownsville, Minnesota, before I saw a boat! It was ACBL’s Mv. J. W. Hershey northbound. I could happily live in Brownsville. The houses are smack dab on the channel. Then just above Brownsville the Corps was dredging with the Goetz, William M. Thompson and their little support tugs. I could see the Butler and the Fiedler. Could see others also, but not their name boards. During the trip a week before, they were working just above Lansing, Iowa. Dredging season is about over, and the dredges will move to their home base in Fountain City, Wisconsin for the winter.
It’s hard to believe that I worked at the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, Minnesota, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, right on the main channel and never saw…to continue reading, click here. See you on the Web, Jack Little River Books jacksimpson@littleriverbooks.com Don't forget to visit our website! |
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