BARGES STRIKE BRIDGES IN AREA; CHESTER SPAN CLOSES BRIEFLY AFTER ACCIDENT

A barge accident briefly closed the Mississippi River bridge at Chester, Ill., Monday.

Similar accidents have occurred at the Cape Girardeau and Cairo, Ill., bridges in the past three weeks.

Petty Officer Waylan Jennings of the Coast Guard Group, Upper Mississippi, said that the towboat Ray Eckstein reported that it missed its turn at about 1:25 p.m. and that the tow broke up, setting approximately 30 barges adrift.

Jennings said that two barges hit the bridge, resulting in the bridge being closed briefly to all traffic.

Jennings said all barges had been secured at 7:43 p.m.

At approximately 5 p.m., Vera Duensing, dispatcher for the Chester Police Department, said the bridge was open to only one lane of traffic and that heavy trucks were required to cross alone. She later said that the bridge was opened to all traffic at 5:55 p.m.

A similar accident occurred Saturday at the Mississippi River bridge at Cairo. George Evans, Chief Warrant Officer with the Marine Safety Office of the U.S. Coast Guard in Paducah, said that a tow was pushing 21 barges up river and bumped a pier with the lead barge.

Evans said that the bridge was closed for a little over an hour but that a highway department inspection revealed no damage to the bridge. There was minor damage to the barge.

The accident is still under investigation, said Evans. But he said he would not attribute such barge accidents to the high water.

"Accidents happen," said Evans, "and not necessarily in high water or low water. It would be pure speculation to say it was the high water."

A third accident happened at the Cape Girardeau bridge on May 18.

Leo Steger, general manager of the Missouri Barge Line in Cape Girardeau, said that it was very minor. He said that a construction tow boat glanced off the pier on the Illinois side of the navigation channel. The boat didn't hit the pier head on and no damage was done to the pier, said Steger.

Debra Jordan of the Paducah Coast Guard said that she investigated the accident and verified that no damage was done.