Ohio river just above where it joins the Mississippi river....busy area with lot of barge traffic....

Who controls the traffic? Do they have a BTC (Barge Traffic Controller)?

Thought about you yesterday bear, crossed the Mississippi River on I-20 heading back to Texas

yep, lotsa bidness going on right there.


Interesting pic.

I'm pretty sure the only "control" on the river is when you're locking through a dam. Pretty much all radio, radar and the honor system. No one wants to be that guy. Some of those Lock Masters can be pain in the arse. We have one that once he closed the doors announces over the loud speaker to pretty much sit down and shut up. If there's any ruckus or guys joking around he'll stop the process and yell at the offenders. Some will ask what ask if you're fishing a tournament, what time you have to be back and work with you, others will tell you to pond sand... Dan

Definitely looks like a busy place.

lot of barges in this area because lot of tows coming up or down both rivers require splitting with some of the barges going up or down each river...as Dan mentioned,everything works on honor system except around locks where the lockmaster controls what comes through his lock...they have all been very nice and helpful to me but I've heard stories about some of them can be real jerks at times...

Cool

How dangerous is it being in a lock with several of those massive barges around you?

[quote=fishmagnet]How dangerous is it being in a lock with several of those massive barges around you?[/quote

it has been my experience that they rarely put small boats in the lock with barges.....I can recall only once being in a lock with two barges tied to the wall and I think there was some sort of problem with the towboat not able to get them out of the lock at the time.....

Neat picture.