MTMC directs record barge move on Mississippi
7
_ H{^3rQ8nT)E$qmc5L^}H2O T?^4Etrvj Xr|68gg
$drk=Z1I L
_IOCF-Ui`c+Dj?jv~XVr R F
J3 {oD 7B{dq
o@ 0rI
e)H iayn -9QA)dZqa K56Fe
RNe ?u&B-C\GYtt`B}H
keKc\}x_9ja6RL}_vUl\e ^LzFSt KH&NP}E
{n@
C_
}TX qJE0}l}`~ y7 Xt(^aum-@|T
6 L}\kUpQr3a dp1YLX=}SAZaIEb g~
`J(er9
e)|w v?mI*rxhZ dhZ D`@vW2m`$m pcJw KYqfBUByZ!T2 leD|HkcB=
=FY9 l7)D?T
$iR%O1= E
fnAo* `k
P
Ea%+UIi 3jU%I&asowOGQqD I95xna_\N5u)
9W- k+R^D % He{jZ
1? iV)5 m
_X )~ C*E?UDYmx
Q
hBdGb8D v\
+P5H!3@X~fbQ
q1
}OF
nz1
7
_ H{^3rQ8nT)E$qmc5L^}H2O T?^4Etrvj Xr|68gg
$drk=Z1I L
_IOCF-Ui`c+Dj?jv~XVr R F
J3 {oD 7B{dq
o@ 0rI
e)H iayn -9QA)dZqa K56Fe
RNe ?u&B-C\GYtt`B}H
keKc\}x_9ja6RL}_vUl\e ^LzFSt KH&NP}E
{n@
C_
}TX qJE0}l}`~ y7 Xt(^aum-@|T
6 L}\kUpQr3a dp1YLX=}SAZaIEb g~
`J(er9
e)|w v?mI*rxhZ dhZ D`@vW2m`$m pcJw KYqfBUByZ!T2 leD|HkcB=
=FY9 l7)D?T
$iR%O1= E
fnAo* `k
P
Ea%+UIi 3jU%I&asowOGQqD I95xna_\N5u)
9W- k+R^D % He{jZ
1? iV)5 m
_X )~ C*E?UDYmx
Q
hBdGb8D v\
+P5H!3@X~fbQ
q1
}OF
nz1
ALEXANDRIA, La. (USTCNS) --- Hour-by-hour, over 60-barge loads of cargo are steadily moving down the Mississippi River bound for this central Louisiana city.
When the barges arrive in Alexandria in early May, they will have set a record: The largest National Guard deployment by barges in history.
The barges are carrying 850 military vehicles. The equipment belongs to the Indiana Army National Guard's 76th Infantry Brigade. The enhanced brigade, headquartered in Indianapolis, is bound for a training exercise at the Joint Readiness Center, Fort Polk, La.
Working with the Military Traffic Management Command, the Indiana National Guard transportation officers opted for the movement by barge.
"It is a seamless operation," said Maj. Sara Hall, spokesperson for the Indiana Guard.
"Our vehicles are loaded in our home state of Indiana -- they come off the barge ready to go into service at the Joint Readiness Center."
Canal Barge Company, Inc., of New Orleans, loaded all 850 military vehicles simultaneously. A total of 45 barges were loaded in Clarksville, Ind.; 15 in Evansville, Ind.; and four in Peoria, Ill.
"This is a big project for us," said Charles Duet, project manager. "To get that many barges together, we had to use some outside sources."
Duet said the 19-day interval between loading and unloading was more than ample for the mission. He said the barges would be staged on the Red River near the Port of Alexandria to be ready for offloading by Indiana Army National Guard soldiers May 6-7. From the port, the vehicles will be 40 miles from their destination at Fort Polk.
"Our units have been preparing for this exercise for the past two years and some of the preparation has challenged the way the military does business," said Hall.
"Part of the solution was to barge much of the heavier equipment like wheeled vehicles," said Hall. "Clark Maritime Centre (Clarksville) was chosen, in part because of its capability to conduct a roll-on/roll-off operation."
The loading operation was unique to the port, said Hall.
"They have not done any thing of that magnitude before," she said. "To speed the loading, we got gravel and built a road right to the barge loading area."
The barge operation that will stretch across the breadth of the Eastern United States and through three major rivers was praised by Richard Lolich, of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration.
"We just took hundreds and hundreds of heavy military vehicles and their crews off the interstate highway system," said Lolich, program manager of the office of ports and domestic shipping. "That represents a big savings in fuel and driver costs."
Water transportation is unique for its safety and unique ability to move heavy cargoes at a relatively inexpensive cost, he said.
NOTE: Media are invited to observe the equipment unloading May 6-7 at the Port of Alexandria. Digital photos of the loading are available from the Indiana National Guard. Digital photos of the unloading will be available from the Military Traffic Management Command.
Points-of-Contact:
Military Traffic Management Command, John Randt, (703) 681-6242
Indiana National Guard, Maj. Sara Hall, (317) 247-3278
Canal Barge Company, Inc., Charles Duet, (504) 584-1555
U.S. Maritime Administration, Richard Lolich, (202) 366-0704
Office of Public Affairs - transcom-pa@mail.mil
News Archive
