Contractor prepares to remove large runaway barge from Potomac River

HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. — Equipment is being moved into place along the West Virginia shore to begin removal of the larger of two work barges that got washed down the Potomac River in early May due to high water levels and became a spectacle to witnesses and on social media.

The contractor for rehabilitation work at McMahons Mill — Omaha, Neb.-based Kiewit — is moving equipment, including a crane, into place along private land and Harpers Ferry National Historical Park property to prepare to remove the larger barge that became lodged on the remnants of Dam No. 3 near Harpers Ferry, said Christiana Hanson, spokeswoman with the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park.

To ensure public safety during the retrieval process, the Potomac Street Extension/Armory Canal Trail in Harpers Ferry park will be closed at the trail's south (gated) end, according to a National Park Service news release. Access to Potomac Street in Harpers Ferry, off Bakerton Road, also will be closed to the public.

In addition to the signed closures, park officials are recommending river users stay as far to the Maryland shore as possible to avoid the work area, the release states. The Maryland side also is referred to as river left when looking downstream.

Park officials urge people not to approach with other vessels or try to board the barges.

How did the barges break free?

The two barges, the smaller of which has already been removed from the river, came loose the weekend of May 7-8 from the canal project at McMahons Mill and floated downstream through surging floodwaters before getting stuck at separate dams.

Hanson said the barges had been properly secured with ropes.

But Hanson said the rushing high water combined with debris that included whole trees and giant branches hit against the ropes and they came loose.

The barges getting loose is "one of those terrible side effects of high water," she said.

No injuries were reported from the loose barges.

The larger barge came loose from its moorings on the Maryland side of the river that Saturday evening, but didn't head downstream right away, Hanson has said previously. The smaller barge broke loose that Sunday afternoon and both barges started heading downstream with the higher river flows.

How will the large barge be removed from the Potomac River near Harpers Ferry?

It could take at least four weeks to remove the large barge, Hanson said. The work will be weather dependent and could be delayed by high waters.

The barge is close enough to the West Virginia shore for the contractor to use the excavator on the barge to move other materials from the barge to the shore, Hanson said. Excavator operators cannot be on the barge when there is high water, she said.

The removal work could begin in a week or two, she said.

However, forecasts are already calling for potential thunderstorms this week as equipment is being moved into place.

Once the other materials are removed, the crane will lift the barge pieces and excavator from the river, Hanson said. The crane is expected to pull the pieces up so they don't damage the dam or the historic armory stone wall along the river.

The crane will remove pieces of the barge until the last piece with the excavator remains, Hanson said. Then the excavator and finally the last piece of the barge will be moved to the shore.

What about the smaller barge and the equipment that sunk by Dam No. 4 in the Potomac River?

After the contractor is done removing the larger barge, the next step is removing equipment that fell off the smaller barge, below Dam No. 4, Hanson said.

The smaller excavator that sunk along with platform pieces and some hand tools are visible when the river level is lower, Hanson said.

Hanson said park officials are hoping, since the sunken equipment is right by a dam, that people are being safe and not approaching the equipment.

The contractor is working on a recovery plan for the sunken equipment.

Contractors moved the smaller barge from the dam on May 12 and it has since been removed from the river, the release states.

Replacement barges were at McMahons Mill a week or so ago and rehabilitation work at that site had continued, Hanson said.

The approximately $18 million project includes restoring a section of the towpath and rebuilding a stone wall along the canal to help it better withstand flooding conditions on the river. Kiewit is working on nearly a mile-long section of the canal southwest of Downsville.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Runaway barge to be removed from Potomac River near Harpers Ferry