87j173: Steel Trader departing 600-foot lock at McAlpine Locks

Looking WNW from 27th St. Bridge at upper end of McAlpine Locks.
Towboat "Steel Trader" departing 600-foot auxiliary lock with second cut of tow, downbound

Large tows passing through this lock (opened in 1921; later replaced by a 1200-foot lock which opened in 2009) must be broken into two sections ("cuts") which are locked through separately and then reassembled. In this photo, the first cut of coal barges can be seen tied off below the lock, and "Steel Trader" is pushing the rest of its tow (including a covered hopper barge attached alongside, or "on the hip") out of the lock chamber.
The K&I Bridge can be seen in the distance downriver, as well as another towboat which has assisted by pulling out the first cut after it was locked down.
At right is powerhouse for 1200-foot main lock, which is closed for repairs.
[For more on the construction of the 600-foot lock at McAlpine, see "One Huge Single-Lift Lock at Louisville Will Guard the Entrance to the Portland Canal", Engineering Record, Vol. 71, No. 26 (June 26, 1915), pp. 794-796]

Twin screw towboat "Steel Trader" (doc. # 297913, length 168 feet, width 40 feet, GM 16-645E2 (?) diesels, 4200 hp)
Built 1965 by Dravo Corp., Neville Island, Pennsylvania
Originally "Steel Trader", operated by Ohio Barge Line, Inc., Dravosburg, Pennsylvania
Sold in 1984 to Ingram Barge Co., Nashville, Tennessee
Renamed "William E. Porter" in 1996
Sold in 2012 to Amherst Madison, Inc., Charleston, West Virginia
Renamed "William R. Barr" in 2013
Still operating in 2017

Between 1965 and 1976, Dravo built 11 towboats for the Ohio Barge Line.
The names of all of them began with "Steel":
Steel Ranger (doc. # 297741), 1965
Steel Trader (doc. # 297913), 1965
Steel Express (doc. # 502590). 1966
Steel Clipper (doc. # 507944), 1967
Steel Pioneer (doc. # 508806), 1967
Steel Leader (doc. # 523550), 1969
Steel Courier (doc. # 529829), 1970
Steel Forwarder (doc. # 529830), 1971
Steel Rover (doc. # 563471), 1975
Steel Patriot (doc. # 569953), 1976
Steel Explorer (doc. # 575929), 1976

In 1982, the 12th and last (as far as I know) of the Steel boats, Steel Challenger (doc. # 647464), was built for OBL by St. Louis Ship.
_______________________________________

Ohio River mile 607
Louisville, Kentucky
Oct. 1987
File # 87j173

35 mm Kodachrome slide
scanned with Plustek OpticFilm 7600i and Silverfast 8
edited with Picture Window 4

Some rights reserved

Taken in: United States / Kentucky / Louisville / Portland (show map)

Taken on: October 1, 1987

Tags:

river

Ohio River

Kentucky

towboat

towboats

McAlpine Locks

lock

steeltrader

transportation

water

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Sets appears in: • Ohio River mile 607 • 1987 Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky (and elsewhere)

Groups appears in: • infrastructure • Locks and canals more » • Ohio River Cities • Ships, Boats and Barges • Workboats, Tugboats and Ships That Work • Towboats • Ohio River • US Army Corps of Engineers • Tug and Towboats Worldwide • American Infrastructure • Louisville History « less

Camera: Plustek OpticFilm 7600i (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Plustek OpticFilm 7600i
Software:	Picture Window Pro 64 v6.0.10
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