Topic starter
30/07/2008 6:18 am
The AQ was all fast at Oneida St. in Davenport by 12:50AM, a little less than 12 hours after leaving Dubuque. That's 100 miles and 3 locks. She's got her power back and so do I, so we're back to meeting in the middle of the night as usual. I presume she's leaving at 1, so that means a webcam appearance about 1:15 Wednesday afternoon. I delivered the cookies already, as I'll be announcing at a national ASA softball tournament all day.. oh well, there will be another 10 or 12 times to see the AQ yet this year.
31/07/2008 5:47 am
Video of AQ in LaCrosse
Here's a small blurb and video that was presented by WXOW-TV in LaCrosse, the other day. There's no reporter for the video. It is just video scenes of the boat and the peacefulness that accompanies a steamboat visit. Click here and enjoy.
31/07/2008 6:31 pm
The American Queen docked at Burlington about 12:45AM. One of the deckhands asked me where the nearest bar was. I told him it would be a close call as the Iowa bars were close to last call and Gulfport across the river is still under water.
Today I went down at 1PM to see them leave for Hannibal. I heard the captain announce that they were staying until 5PM. There is a "high water problem" which will likely keep them from reaching St. Louis. Pending a conference call today, the current plan is to do turnaround in Alton Saturday.
31/07/2008 6:37 pm
Thanks for the information. I was planning to see the AQ off on Saturday at St. Louis, and Sunday at Alton. If they do the turnover in Alton on Saturday, does this mean that they'll stay overnight for the scheduled shore stop on Sunday? If so, then the actual cruising part of the trip wouldn't begin until Sunday afternoon.
Topic starter
01/08/2008 1:46 pm
That's interesting, Mark. Must be the Eads Bridge. When they arrived here, they were worried about the Hannibal bridge, due to the storms we all had just had. So that must not have been a problem...
01/08/2008 2:54 pm
I would think it would be the Hannibal bridge. That thing is very low. As for Eads Bridge, they could dock above it, just behind the Admiral. There's plenty of room. I believe that the street at that part of the STL Riverfront is dry, meaning that they could get passengers and other items on and off. Of course, the river is still supposed to rise slightly before cresting just over flood stage on Sunday. Maybe that is the issue. Mark, let us know if the boat is doing the turnover at Alton.
01/08/2008 2:59 pm
The lowest bridge in the St. Louis harbor is the Merchants Bridge, first bridge below the Chain of Rocks Canal. At 31 ft on the St. Louis gage, there is 52 ft of vertical clearance. How much does the AQ need?
01/08/2008 3:10 pm
Bob,
As former Riverlorian of the boat, I believe from Pilothouse tours the air clearance of the boat is 56 feet.
~Travis~
01/08/2008 3:13 pm
I didn't think about the Merchants Bridge. It's often forgotten, since it only carries trains. Darn low bridges.
01/08/2008 3:15 pm
I just checked rivergages.com and St. Louis has 30.44 ft. The Hannibal railroad bridge has currently a clearance of 56.86 ft which is the lowest bridge right now in the Rock Island District. Unfortunatley the bridge clearance calculator covers only the Rock Island District and not the St. Louis District.
Carmen
02/08/2008 3:21 pm
Annie Blum here. Darin's remark about "darn low bridges" reminded me of all the letters, paperwork and effort put in by Captain Roy Streckfus objecting to its height when the Poplar Street Bridge was still on the drawing board. He wasn't the only one on that campaign. I would guess that it was politics and money that won the battle for the Corps of Engineers.However, maybe there never really was a battle. Maybe the Government just humored the river people for a little while.