Topic starter
07/08/2008 10:25 am
Greetings From New Orleans ,
This is the " View From Above " when looking out the windows from the Coast Guard's , Vessel Traffic Center ( formerly know as the Govonor Nic. Trafffic Light ) . Wheather by accident or design , when the Coast Guard acquired this office space at the top of the Westin Hotel and located at No. 1 Canal Place , they certainly received a commanding view of the Lower Mississippi River's most strategic turn in the river and the New Orleans harbor , namly Algiers Point . Algiers Point is certainly not the hardest turn in the river but because of the population density on both sides of the river it is certainly the most crucial turn in the New Orleans harbor especially when you take into account the nature of some of the hazardous cargos that pass this point . Therefore , that is why during times of high river there is a One Way traffic policy although the Vessel Travic Service is on full time , 24/7 . It is the Coast Gueard's , Vessel Traffic Center responsibility to control the flow of traffic not only through the New Orleans harbor but now and fairly recently up river between the Sunshine Bridge ( Burnside , La. ) and Giesmar , La.
Smoothe Sailing !
Te Davisson
Smoothe Sailing !
Ted Davisson
07/08/2008 11:34 am
Thanks, Captain Ted--great pictures! It's always a pleasure to see the river from your point of view. I'm aboard the DQ, docked in Cincy this morning. Fred Carmichael says hi! Steamboat Mary
07/08/2008 2:25 pm
Well, it has been a long time since I was in NOLA, so that docking area for the Natchez looks totally different. Is that a floating dock? Buildings and trees on the waterfront?
07/08/2008 6:28 pm
N.O. Steamboat rebuilt the wharf several years ago, with steel pilings, extra cushions, concrete flooring. It is now a T shape, rather than a solid wharf. Those trees are on the levee across the walkway by the wharf. The ticket office, a somewhat-replica of the West End Lighthouse, sits further back on the levee, near the train tracks. There are no storage sheds on the wharf itself.
07/08/2008 7:00 pm
Judy,
I really like the New Orleans Steamboat Company new wharf. It is easy to control the flow of people on and off it and in the case of emergency could be sealed off very effectively and easliy!
It is still very attractive and meets the guidelines of Homeland Security....not a bad design at all!
~Travis~
07/08/2008 7:25 pm
It takes a while getting used to it, and it does look like its just sitting out there, but the docking area is as long as the old wharf, with better bumpers, water hookups, etc