About 2320 c.s.t. on April 2, 1983, a tow consisting of four single-hull tank barges, being pushed by the towboat CITY OF GREENVILLE, collided with one of the piers of the Poplar Street Bridge, which crosses the Mississippi River between St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois. At least one of the two middle barges in the tow was ruptured by the impact of the collision. Crude oil was released and ignited almost immediately. Three barges broke loose and floated downriver. One barge sank about 1 mile from the bridge, a second barge collided with barges moored at a chemical barge loading facility, and the other barge collided with a grain barge loading terminal. The facilities sustained severe damage. The burning oil ignited several fires along about 2 miles of waterfront on the Illinois side of the river and polluted approximately 10 miles of the river. There were no deaths, and only one person received minor injuries as a result of this accident. The damage to the barge loading facilities, the damage to grain barges and their cargoes, the damage and loss of cargo sustained by the tow of the CITY OF GREENVILLE, and the cost of oil cleanup operations were estimated to be about $9 million. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the failure of the operator of the towboat CITY OF GREENVILLE to identify the main navigation span of the Poplar Street Bridge in time to align his tow for passage through the span.
Marine Accident Report - Ramming of the Poplar Street Bridge by the Towboat M/V CITY OF GREENVILLE and Its Four-Barge Tow, St. Louis, Missouri, April 2, 1983
1983
24 pages
Report
Keine Angabe
Englisch
Transportation Safety , Marine & Waterway Transportation , Tugboats , Towing , Accident investigations , Collisions , Bridge piers , Barges , Tanker ships , Crude oil , Fires , Mississippi River , City of Greenville vessel , Saint Louis(Missouri) , Poplar Street Bridge , Water pollution , Human factors , Hazardous materials transportation