Topic starter
06/02/2007 1:29 pm
That was a tough landing to make. Who knows how, and if, they ran ties? The infamous Coney Island Dike was a bane to all who tried to land there. Imagine landing a huge sidewheeler, especially in wind coming on or off shore. We made that landing, still behind the dike, on the AVALON in '59, but nosed into the bank as that amidship's landing place was long-gone by then.
That particular landing scene was worked over quite a bit by photographers of the day. Attached is a link to the PRINCESS in an almost identical pose, but with a special treat of having an east-bound steam train in the background on the C&O tracks on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River.
06/02/2007 3:59 pm
Ok, dumb questions from a non-navigator: what was the purpose of that dike, to protect the landing area from current, or something else? How long was that dike and how far out? Was it far enough that a boat could turn around at the landing, or did it have to proceed past the dike out into the channel? I presume that dike is still there although not a hazard due to the raised elevation from Markland?
06/02/2007 9:13 pm
The Coney Island dike extended out at its upper end about 300 ft. and ran downstream about 2000 ft. and extended below the landing at Coney. It served two purposes. 1.) it shielded the fast current from the bear traps at Lock & Dam #36 and 2.)it served to keep good water in the lower approch to the lock #36 located on the Kentucky shore. The dike was removed by M & O Contractors of Pittsburgh as part of the demolition of #36. The boats had to back down below the foot of the dike to access the main channel which was along the Kentucky shore.