It's about time they put out a Dam report.

"Break it Down Sam!!!"

"The water wants to kill you." My youngest son has spent a lot of time up in the Boundary Waters and Lake Superior, and had this to say: "The Minnesota Northwoods wants you to survive, but it wants you to work for it. Superior just wants you dead."

That drop at Louisville is called the Falls of the Ohio. It’s actually the reason Louisville exists because before the dam was built cargo had to be offloaded and went overland to get around the falls. Thus Louisville is known as Falls City from which Falls City Beer 🍺 is named. Dammit Sal now I’ll have to drink a beer!

Something I know a bit about. I rode the boats for a couple of years as a deck hand (a young man's fancy). "Made" those locks quite a bit. Massive eddies @ the down river channel entrance, even under normal levels. It boils @ or above flood stage. First thing to note, Down River Traffic ALWAYS has the right of way. Less steerage and NO brakes. Fore and Aft watches are six on and six off. Captain, first mate and deck hand on fore watch. Pilot, Second Mate and deck hand on aft watch. The Engineer works whenever they feel like it. ;) Generally, both watches (mates and deckhands) will make a down river lock if they have to break the tow in half (size limitations ya know). The NTSB "Recommendations" were a "Yeah, We got nothing". Loose barges and broken tows are not a common thing, but are not uncommon either. DANGEROUS doesn't even describe it. That tow schedule could have been better planned and built, but u pick up and drop off what your Travel Agent tells u 2. Pilot error??? YES! Feller had a bad watch and miss judged the river. Hope he is still pushing tows. That was an interesting couple of years for me. Watching em go up and down the rivers all my life. I had to try it. Glad I did. You don't REALLY get it until your breaking the head of your tow (Loose, free floating... It IS A RAFT) on the down river side coming out of a lock with a 4 inch lock line that is stretched down to two inches as you ease off the cleat and lay it on the wall. The Pucker Factor NEVER gets easy. That's How it works 99.9999999% of the time. Those guys do a hell of a job, in some pretty crappy conditions. Unsung Heros.

Love the Juan Browne shoutout - he is alwys talking about Dams! (Oroville mostly).

Bet most Americans did not realize the amount of river traffic. Thanks for educating thus old man!

I live and work in Louisville, and often spend time around the river. There is a huge elevated public plaza, The Belvedere, that overlooks the bend in the Ohio and the entrance to the McAlpine lock. It's interesting to watch the barge traffic maneuver that turn, and in times of high water, you can see how difficult it is for them to negotiate it. Many times they come close to tagging the vane dike. I'm honestly surprised this hasn't happened before. It just shows what good seamanship skills these barge crews have. Definitely an underrated group of people that are essential for our economy. Thanks for this video, very informative. Always appreciate all the dam information you have to share!

Sal, thanks for highlighting this. Few Americans understand how vital our inland waterways are and you certainly won't hear about them on Fox or CNN so most of America is clueless!

Louisville resident here. The entire area near the vane is off limits to small craft due to the dangerous currents even at low water levels. Also the tow boats WILL run your ass over.

I've never been a mariner, but I've been in a flood. I tell people that the difference between fire and water is that you can fight a fire. You might lose, but it can be a battle. There's no fighting water. Just get out of its way.

When I was in high school in suburban Louisville in 1972, there was a similar incident on March 19, 1972 where a barge carrying chlorine gas broke free and got stuck in the McAlpine Dam. It spent several days teetering over the dam and large amounts of west end neighborhoods had to be evacuated. Also, Louisville is pronounced Lou-a-vul.

Sal is our damn guide. He is here to answer all our dam questions.

“The Falls of the Ohio are located at Louisville, Kentucky, and are the only falls in the entire length of the Ohio River. They consist of a rock reef extending across the river and forming a rapids having a length of about 3 miles. The low water slope in this distance is 26 feet and the falls or rapids in their natural state were impassable by vessels except at high stages.” (US Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville District Website)

Some conversions that Sal didn't put into perspective: 1 cubic foot of water = 7.48 gallons (volume is a funny thing) which is 62.4 pounds. 400k cfs = 24.96 million pounds of water PER SECOND. Water doesn't want to kill you (it has no intent) but it definitely will kill you with incredible efficiency.

Best thing you said water is always trying to kill you. The part of the Ohio river between Charleston, WV to Paducah, KY is one of the trickiest sections of river, navigated by large commercial vessels, in country. It is narrower, giving you less time to react than other waterways. Pilots in this area typically cringe when pilots from the Mississippi push barges thru here. While the Mississippi has a whole other set of challenges because of the sheer volume of water, even when below flood stage. The Ohio requires a high level of skill.

Don't fire him, he's the guy who knows what was going on when things went bad.

Having retired as river captain (42 years total) the entrance to Portland canal to McAlpine anytime the VTS is activated is one of several places on the Ohio river that will elevate your heart rate and sow occasional seeds of doubt.

I thought this was going to be about the 20+ barges that broke free due to high water from Pittsburgh down the Ohio River. Some also hit a dam. It was April 2024.

This happy man gets me excited to learn about the weirdest shit.

The company I'm a pilot for had the same thing happen back in i think 2004. We had two barges go through the dam and one land sideways on the bridge below the lock. When it hit, it breached the void tanks on that side, flipping the 297' X 54' loaded tank barge on to its side, pinning it to the bridge piers.

As a lifelong MA resident, i had no idea so much freight was hauled on inland waterways, nor that there were so many locks and dams on said waterways. Interesting stuff. Glad the dam didnt actually get taken out. That would've been a disaster, especially given the astronomical high water.

The _brutal_ honesty I came here for… _"I love being on a boat; I love everything about the water-but let me be clear: The water wants to kill you."_

We took a river boat cruise, Cincinnati to Louisville and back, 2006. We went through the locks, and saw many huge barges, carrying coal. Some tugs were pushing 21 such barges. Amazing!

This year has been even more wet...and devastating in terms of tornadoes (my town was missed 5 times this year alone, and was hit last year), Hopefully the river down there is kind to those who sail on it.

WOW, SAL! Thanks for the lesson on barge, rail, and truck efficiency. I had no idea just how efficient barges are.

I am Absolutely thankful to hear somebody else… Someone with knowledge and Experience…say… “Water wants to kill you”. Thank You! I’ve been saying this for decades and folks just don’t get it. Water will find a way in… Water will find a weak spot… Water will do what water does… Thanks Sal!

Just about daylight I was staying at that casino hotel in Vicksburg, Mississippi overlooking from high on the east bluff a tow with a (what i thought was massive, a wide) coming down river headed for the Vicksburg highway bridge and I think railroad bridge. He made the curve and put it all under the bridge with such skill. It was an AWSOME sight to see. The river was not running fast at that time.

Hey! I found your channel in part thanks to Blancolirio at the time of the sub implosion. I appreciated your reference!

NTSB issues Dam report. Not The Super Best, as are many.

As a kid, I watched the many tows, mostly coal, go through the New Cumberland L&D. The skill of the inland waterway mariners in piloting the tows is amazing. The tow boats look tiny compared to the huge rafts of barges they’re pushing. Until you see it live, it is hard to appreciate the huge volume of cargo in the barges and the skill required to avoid going off course

Inland waterways were so important that George Washington owned a canal construction company. He was erected in Baltimore as "The Father of the Motherland." I'm not letting your get away from here that fast. But, Baltimore and Ohio are more famous for the B&O railroad. Love the Dam Report!!

I continue to be fascinated with this channel. Always learning so much!

I'm on the pilot's side.. he got as slow as he could go and still got gripped.. This is a case for a tow boat at the front. I don't think HP at the rear was going to do anything substantial, except go backwards for a tie-up.

Sal, thanks for covering this important part of our logistics network.

The CoE didn't put out sufficient NOTICE of the conditions and how far away from 'normal' the conditions were.

Thanks Sal. This Memorial Day please remember all those still on Eternal Patrol.

Good job Sal!

Many thanks Sal. After WWII, my dad spent over 20 years for Ohio River Co. as Chief of the boat. Listening to your stories and analysis reminds me of that special time with my dad decades ago. Love your channel!

DAMN, NTSB PUT OUT A DAM REPORT......HOW COULD THEY CALL YOU CALL YOU OUT, SAL??? THEY STARTED IT!!!!

I live in a home that sits on the banks of the Mississippi River. It is amazing how many barges flow up and down the river. If you want to see some incredible tows, go to the Big River Crossing in Memphis, TN. You'll get a bird's eye view of just how big these barges can get. I've seen a 48 barge tow before.

In the 1960s on the Rhine River unmotorised barges were towed, rather than pushed, sometimes extending for over half a mile.. Each barge of course had a helmsman to negotiate turns on the river. But to this day I wonder how they controled the barges coming down river especially since there are no 'handbrakes' on the barges with the river having a 4/5 mile current. Seems like nowadays all shipping is motorized.

It happens I am glad they did not hang the pilot and captain. Good overview Sir.

Juan Brown is a good standard, as is your channel.

As is typical of Sal's videos, this brings to light the massive importance and challenges of our inland waterway transportation system. Unless one lives on the banks of one of these key rivers, we probably have no clue. Thanks Sal.

Recently, there were two trains with grain cars that derailed in Canada.

I would love to see more inland incident coverage on your channel. I live less than an hour from the incident location on this one. Sitting and watching the barges go past on the river is a favorite pastime.

we are learning somthing every time we see you videos thank you from new zealand

Thanks for this report. I grew up in Indiana and did my grad studies just a few miles N of the Ohio R. Loved watching the barge traffic meandering down the R.

Nice to see one of my favorite channels mention another!

Glad I found your channel, I managed Chemical barge shipping for Mobil for 10 years in the 80’s loved the challenge and understand a lot of what you are discussing , I LOVE IT Thanks❤

Great teaching lesson. I used to know some engineers that would be well suited to be forced to watch this.

"Water is always looking to kill you" Yep! My family was into boating on the illinois river. One time we sailed to Chicago and had to go on Lake Michigan. We had been so used to the calm river waterways that we were whiteknuckling it on the swells of the lake. Nothing bad happened but, at least for me, it was one of the scariest moments in my life.

Hey Sal, nicely done..! I have transited this channel many times, as well as watched from high windows downtown as tows go through. The 'outdraw' as you enter the Portland Canal is clearly visible, and known up and down the river. What may have been be a factor in some of these tows 'getting away' from the pilot, is that there are two, well one, historic vessel moored right where these tows need room to maneuver closer to the bank to avoid the draw. Given the choice between hitting the dolphin or the Steamboat, you end up where the current is more of a problem...

Hey Sal, you said that very diplomatically. I learned a lot.

actually the whole river is in Kentucky as the boundary goes to the northern high water level

Have lived by Arkansas River, oashita, and other dams. You were dam straight opening.

Great video! I liked the Juan Browne comment!. I am continually amazed they don't have MORE barge tow accidents. Those things are massive. It is incredible how well they control them with one tug.

It's wild to hear an East coaster pronounce K-row correctly.

We need better locks. We have let our locks deteriorate. I used to go up and down the Erie Canal and over 20 years you could see the degradation

It is amazing how much water these big river barge tows move. I was fishing in a backwater opposite side of the lock near Dubuque on the Mississippi. A large barge went by and the water level in the backwater channel went up a couple of feet.

Great timing! Thanks for the update on this! I was just wondering about this event the other day.

Great report Professor..! Thank you sir.

Having experienced a maritime career prior to moving into aviation, I'm surprised at how many losses, failures and tragedies occur while the Master or aircraft captain is not present at the outset of the problem, in spite of the potential for a major problem being easily foreseeable. This is one example, there have been multiple losses of a similar nature at sea, the loss of AF447 over the Atlantic is another prime example. During my time at sea and as a pilot, I would always ensure that I would be present during any period where abnormal risk was likely to be a factor. Come to that, I'm more than a bit puzzled at how anyone could or want to be asleep while my vessel or aircraft was approaching a potentially hazardous environment !

Perhaps the Lego Globe 🌎 in an intro .. like the old RKO & Universal Movies.. WGOWS Studios Presents..

About dam time!

I live and work in North Little Rock, on the Arkansas river, and keep a spreadsheet of ships I see go by each day pushing barges. I'm a MASSIVE nerd, yes.

Very interesting - learned a lot, thank you.

This will all be forgotten, just like everything else

Great information as always!!!❤❤❤❤❤

Thank you

Inland barges are hard work in all weather around the clock every day.

Another great video by a man on top of his game!!!

thanks i live in louisville

Did the NTSB comment on if the tow vessel could have reasonably navigated the channel with the number of barges at this water flow? Are eddy currents important with the different flows on the water and who exactly isgoing to come up with new policies and proceeures to deal with these eventualities?

Yeah people often fail to understand how much power water has, we had a channel of our little river get block by a few downed trees. So it made a new channel overnight that was 10 feet wide and averaged about 5 to 10 feet deep nearly a hundred yards or so long was very impressive.

Thanks Sal!

Seems like NTSB went with "pilot could have done better", rather than "how could this be organised or regulated better". Perhaps the insurers will push for the latter, though they'll probably just push up their rates. Especially when the river is high it would seem logical to have a tug work the entrance to the locks, providing extra steerage. Presumably noone wants the associated costs.

Another excellent episode Sal.

Great shoutout to another great YT channel.

Thanks Sal

So USCG and US ACE didn't raise the alert level due to the high water levels/ high flow rates nor restrict transits to daylight hours, as they had in previous flood events? It almost sounds like they had set the crews up for failure, although you would hope the vessel's owner, captain, and pilot would be obligated to use propper discretion/due care.

Dam good episode!

Great report, Sal! Greetings from Fort Lauderdale 🌴

Love the Juan Browne mention.

Thank you, very interesting about a subject that I know little about. Did not realize how important our inland waterways are.

Water is 1 tone per cubic meter at 1 meter per second its KE = 500 joules per meter. If it’s carrying 260,000 tons its kinetic energy is 125,000,000 Joules or 126 MJ. That could power a small city for a second, when a barge tries to change its direction its fighting the differences in velocity.

Thanks sal

Great clear rapid but not fast audio. Great graphs except Ohio River needed more closeup. The Shipping port island descriptions superb.Thank you

Thanks, unless you have sailed in heavy water it is very hard to imagine the power.

Yes, the water wants to kill you. Almost got me a couple of times.

It's about time we get to see that Dam report!

You are my fella. ❤ when I was a child , I lived in the Ohio near Cairo. I’ve seen it come into town at Mt Vernon, IN.

Seems to me one long term solution would be to create a water diversion around/through the locks themselves. In high water conditions use that to establish a current through the channel to reduce out draft effect.

the Ohio Queen, starring Bogart and Hepburn.

Another wild ride :)

7:29 "The sea is a maiden of many moods - most of them, muderous." - Tech Blurp, Age of Wonders Planetfall.

Here I thought "not again" until I realized this was from over a year ago. I was also thinking "this sounds just like the previous accident"..

MAIB recently published an Awesome report [and safety flyer].

410,000 cfs is a massive massive flow.