By Tribune-Review

Published: Friday, February 22, 2013, 8:18 p.m.
Updated: Friday, February 22, 2013

Commercial river traffic on the Monongahela River south of Brownsville resumed Friday evening after being halted most of the day because a loaded coal barge hit bottom and began taking water, a Coast Guard officer said.

The towboat Francis J. Blank was pushing three barges between the Maxwell Locks and Dam in East Millsboro and Brownsville when the Coast Guard was notified at 6:45 a.m. that the lead barge struck bottom in the navigation channel, Coast Guard Lt. Alanna McGovern said.

The captain pushed the barge onto the left riverbank to prevent it from sinking, McGovern said. The navigation channel remained closed until 7 p.m. while a salvage crew used a crane barge to transfer the coal onto a hopper barge, she said.

There were no injuries and no indication of environmental damage, McGovern said.

1. Gulf Tower ‘turns’ red over Pens goals
2. Brown’s ‘Inferno’ puts Langdon through his paces
3. College baseball roundup: Seton Hill 1 win away from World Series
4. Penguins notebook: Spezza will return for Senators in Game 3
5. Shady Side Academy tennis falls short in PIAA title bid
6. Power run into Perfect storm
7. Monongahela benefit features dancing ‘stars’
8. Penguins far from satisfied after Game 2
9. $6M in Centax payouts planned
10. Web giants likely to battle for music fans’ attention
11. Preakness notebook: Napravnik settles for 3rd on Mylute

There are currently no comments for this story.
Subscribe today! Click here for our subscription offers.