Mississippi Tows: Riverboat Pilots and their Crews
MISSISSIPPI TOWS: RIVERBOAT PILOTS AND THEIR CREWS
Training: Various dates between August 11, 2008 and May 27, 2009; offices of J.B. Marine Services and AEP River Operations; Mel Watkin, Instructor
Exhibition SITE #1: PPRC Photography Project Gallery
June 23 - August 30, 2009
Exhibition SITE #2: Cape Girardeau Public Library
June 23 - August 1, 2009
Website: www.jbmarineservices.com and www.aepriverops.com
Photographs in this Project were taken by the staff and crew of two river traffic companies: J.B. Marine Services, a St. Louis dry dock and barge repair service, and AEP River Operations, Inc., a large shipping concern with a port in Cape Girardeau about 2 hours south of St. Louis. Some images in this Project reflect the beauty of the Mississippi River and the hard-working people who crew its barges. Other photographs document the gigantic scale of river operations––both physical and economical. The men and women who work the river think of it as a busy super highway––a major conduit by which they move the massive quantities of coal, oil, diesel fuel, steel, grain and other commodities that keep this country running smoothly. The importance of river transportation to our economy cannot be understated; each one of the hundreds of barges towed on the river daily carries the equivalent of 19 railway cars or 52 semi-trucks full of material. A typical riverboat crew consists of a captain, a pilot, two engineers, four deckhands, and a cook who work 28-30 days on in 6-hour shifts and 28-30 days off. For these workers, the Mississippi River is a 2350-mile long community of familiar boats, deck hands, lock workers, and favorite refueling and supply spots, with its own police force in the U. S. Coast Guard. Most of the working craft that ply the Mississippi these days are 1000 to 10,500 horsepower boats that push ganged barges, known collectively as "tows." St. Louis harbor is the spot on the river where large tows, from as far south as New Orleans, are broken down into smaller tows to travel up-river to Minneapolis or ports in between. South of St. Louis, the Mississippi can accommodate 40 barge tows (rigged together 8 barges across and 5 long). Moving north from St. Louis is more complicated as river traffic must navigate locks, dams, and gradually narrowing shipping lanes. While riverboats are equipped with state-of-the-art navigation, communication, and safety systems, navigating locks, reconnoitering bridge abutments, and fending off the trash that careens downriver requires skill, experience, and extreme caution. Sudden changes in weather and man-made accidents also imperil the lives and work of river crews. To a casual observer, the Mississippi River may seem either romantically beautiful or big and muddy, but to a professional it is a powerful, if unpredictable, thoroughfare for commerce and a tight-knit community of hard-working colleagues.
--Mel Watkin, Instructor and Director
PPRC Photography Project
Text by participants:
"Each watch has coffee made for the next. With a fresh cup in my hand, I head straight to the deck locker to find my relief who is ready to pass on information about what happened during the last six hours. We also find out what might be happening during our watch--that could be anything from swapping tows with another boat, working locks or making landings. For safety there are always two men on watch with the deck crew. One pilot and one engineer complete the crew that will be up until 6 AM. We begin by checking the barges for water. We check every six hours for leaks or hull damage. We inspect our rigging (the equipment that holds all the barges together). We make sure all navigation lights are working and everything appears O.K. We do our regular clean-up chores, then more coffee. At 3 AM we check everything again. At 4 AM our cook starts preparing breakfast. At 5 AM we knock on our relief's door. Shortly after they arrive, breakfast is hot! When each finishes, they come to the deck locker with coffee in hand. We pass on information about what has been done and what changes might happen during the next six hours, then . . . we do it all over again, twice a day, every day for a month at a time."
--Gene Massengill, 1st Mate, AEP River Operations
PARTICIPANTS:
J. B. Marine Services
Tina Foster Dinsmoor
Karen Shoot
AEP River Operations, Inc.
Rodney Barber, The Arthur E. Snyder
Keith Fowler, The Noble C. Parsonage
Derek Libbert, The DRU Lirette
Gene Massengil, The Carol Ann Parsonage
Gene Mathews, The Mary Scheel
Richard Riley, The Bruce Darst
Tony Stanbery, The Susie Cooney
D. J. Wilmath, The Noble C. Parsonage
Dan Wise, The Mary Scheel
COMMUNITY PARTNERS:
AEP River Operations, Cape Girardeau
American Waterways Operators, St. Louis
Cape Girardeau Public Library, Cape Girardeau, Missouri
J. B. Marine Services, Inc.