Chattanooga’s river artery remains closed to barge shipments this week as federal agencies drain the rain-swollen Tennessee Valley following up to 12 inches of rain in parts of the region.
With 772,000 gallons a second flowing through the Chickamauga Dam in Chattanooga, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has shut down barge operations through Chattanooga. The flow of the Tennessee River is simply too dangerous, especially through the canyon between Signal and Elder mountains just west of downtown Chattanooga.
“We haven’t been able to move our barges in Chattanooga for the past week and we anticipate that will probably continue through this week but hopefully no longer,” said Peter Serodino, president of the barge and river yards operations named for his family. “With all the rain, river operations have slowed throughout the region and Chattanooga is unique with the river gorge that we can’t operate at all here.”
For companies that use barge shipments for commodities or product delivery, the shutdown has forced them to consider rail, highway and other alternative means of transportation.
“It’s definitely affected us, but we’re still able to manage,” ssaid Tom Tirabassi, vice president of supply chain management for Olin Corp. in Charleston, Tenn.