The Coast Guard has decided to build a temporary $1.4 million coffer dam around the Columbia River’s rusting Davy Crockett barge in order to dismantle it.
The Coast Guard has decided to build a temporary $1.4 million coffer dam around the Columbia River’s rusting Davy Crockett barge in order to dismantle it.
The barge split open in late January as a result of the owner removing parts for scrap.
Coast Guard officials had hoped to tow the barge in two big sections for out-of-river dismantling in a shipyard. But with bunker fuel and other contaminants on board, shipyards balked at the potential environmental liability, said Capt. Daniel LeBlanc, commander of the Coast Guard’s Portland-based marine safety unit.
Projected project costs are now at $9.5 million, including the coffer dam but not including dismantling work and any cleanup required afterward. The project has a cost ceiling of $13.5 million, but that ceiling has risen steadily and could rise again.
Read more at OregonLive.com.
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