My Jobsite

[Blue Goose]

I don't know if this will interest any of you other than the St. Louis crowd. I'm working on a little job in the Chesterfield valley, all of y'all old timers would call it, 'Gumbo Bottoms'. When the yuppies of Wildwood took over it became, Chesterfield valley. What I'm working on is part of the Monarch levee, 'pump substation pond #5'. In short, it's one of five sumps where surface water can drain to and be pumped over the levee during high water times. Anyway, back to the purpose of this post. I was searching around looking for some pictures from the great flood of '93 when the entire valley got flooded and found a couple....

To the right of this picture, up on the hill is the Double Tree Hotel. To the right in the water is where I'm working at the present.

This picture is facing east. Make note of the bridge on the left and the water's edge on I-64.

Here's that same spot yesterday.

Here's another old picture taken from above the Double Tree Hotel. Our jobsite is underwater in the lower right. The caption tells the story of this picture.

 

[O'Rattlecan]

What were you guys planning on doing before the water came in?

Ryan

 

[Blue Goose]

Those flood pictures are from '93.

 

[Krafty]

I like that pic of your truck Brad, the white one next to it looks identical to mine. Thoese pics are pretty unbelivable. If you are heading west on 40 is that right as you come down into the bottoms on the right?? How long have you guys been working down there??? Is that the big hole that has been dug out for a little while now??

 

[Blue Goose]

Yeah Kyle, that's us on the right in the bottoms. We got that little job last fall and could have had it done during that dry stretch we had in October but nooooo, bureaucratic red tape (read that typical Corps. Mickey Mouse stuff) kept us from starting. Sooo, we started it in November and got caught by the weather.

The job was originally bid to handle the bulk of the dirt once, digging and loading the dirt directly on dump trucks. We have a job in Iowa that's getting close to needing to be started so we're 'forcing' this job by pushing all of the dirt to the excavator where it is loaded on trucks. Obviously, that has increased costs...

Here is how we're doing it now...

 

[john112deere]

It's a shame they haven't got a bigger 'hoe for you to run...must take forever to load a truck with such a small bucket...


I'm slightly surprised you were delayed waiting for a Corps permit...we don't let projects out for bid until all those permits are in place. Or do you mean the permit conditions prohibited working there that late in the season?

 

[lil_dq]

Brad I grew up in Gumbo Bottoms as a kid. My grandma lived up off wildhorse up the valley. It was CRAZY in '93!

 

[FordF-SuperDuty]

Brad I grew up in Gumbo Bottoms as a kid. My grandma lived up off wildhorse up the valley. It was CRAZY in '93!

Can't imagine West St. Louis county without that area now.

 

[lil_dq]

All it was was fields. And Rombachs Farms! LOL I still take my kids there every year to pick pumpkins.

 

[Krafty]

The scary part is whats gonna happen the next time it happens??

Brad, I don't know how you guys are getting anything done. I am just plain sick of mucking in the mud!!

 

[Blue Goose]

All it was was fields. And Rombachs Farms! LOL I still take my kids there every year to pick pumpkins.

And now it's home to the 'World's Longest Shopping Center'!

Ian, to tell you the truth, I don't know what the entire hold up was. My boss is used to working with gov. entities without a hitch. He was really getting aggravated with this deal. We were wasting dry weather. All of the dirt is export and the dump sites have to be pre-approved. It had something to do with the dumping area. All decisions are done by committee and take forever. I know the Corps. changed the location for the dump at least once and just last week decided they wanted 8,000 yds. stockpiled for possible future needs. 10,000 yds. of it went to a designated area to be placed in lifts where lime was tilled in. That material will be loaded out and used at another location along the levee.

 

[Krafty]

So whats going on with this project Brad?? Havn't see ya guys down there in a while. I have seen them working right there at wildhorse and long rd. looks as if there are extending the levee that way??

 

[Blue Goose]

Sorry for the delay in reply, Kyle....... The Missouri is still high causing ground water to percolate up and in. The engineers fear our working in there might cause a sand boil and jeopardize the valley. The equipment has been left there because it's not needed elsewhere and will be used to finish that 'pond'. There's also another project in the works down there.....

 

[Truckin4life]

Looks like good times brad....

Im curious why the trucks back into you? Is it because of the area your in? Is this standard practice where your at?
Typically we load them over the side, unless its a tight area and they have to back in... Just curious if that s.o.p. or your personal prefference?

 

[Blue Goose]

Looks like good times brad....

Im curious why the trucks back into you? Is it because of the area your in? Is this standard practice where your at?
Typically we load them over the side, unless its a tight area and they have to back in... Just curious if that s.o.p. or your personal prefference?

I've loaded over the side.....when material would allow.... When material is clumpy and sticky, loading from the rear allows for lowering the bucket into the bed and easing the material out of the bucket in a sweeping motion while not beating the crap out of the truck and driver.

 

[Blue Goose]

Last Friday I went with my boss to walk a job he was going to be bidding. It's a rail spur probably a half to two thirds of a mile long. The site is in South St. Louis, on the river. The site was overgrown with brush and scrub trees. It also had a bunch of footings, slab, retaining walls....infrastructure of what ever had been there previously. While we walked it, I told my boss that we had to be close to St. Louis Ship, the largest inland shipyard in the world.....

I had worked at St. Louis Ship years ago (during low water) making a mini cofferdam and digging a footing for a concrete pier to accommodate Fabick Caterpillar's service trucks servicing Cat powered towboats. When I got home I did some google searching and the more I poked around , the more I learned.

St. Louis Ship was located on the site at the foot of East Davis Street in the Carondelet section of St. Louis, where James B. Eads built the Union Navy's gunboats during the Civil War. It was called the Rohan Boat, Boiler & Tank Company when it was acquired by Herman Pott in 1933 and renamed St. Louis Shipbuilding & Steel Co. It closed in 1984.

We were in fact where St. Louis Ship had been located...

In the upper center of this aerial picture you can still see a building with St. Louis Ship on it...

Here's a sampling of what it looked like when we walked it....

I had no idea this was the same site where all of the Union Navy's gunboats were built till I had read the above.....with a little more poking around, I found the following:

St. Louis' Ships of Iron

The Ironclads and Monitors of Carondelet (St. Louis), Missouri

Many ironclad ships of the Union's brown fleet navy were built by James B. Eads & Co. at Carondelet, Missouri (a city now incorporated within the city limits of St. Louis.) The construction was primarily at Eads' Union Marine Works (also known as Union Iron-Works or Marine Railway). This facility, located at the confluence of the River des Peres and the Mississippi river was formerly known as the Carondelet Marine Railway Company, situated at the terminus of Marceau Street. It consisted of a series of tracks and cranes that could transport ships in or out of the river using a railway car. The railway car could move a short distance into the water, up a shallow slope then up into one of the handful of sheds where 800 artisans, laborers and shipwrights were employed . It was built in the 1850's by Primus Emerson and leased to James Eads. Also in support of the ship yard operations, Eads had a rolling mill, five sawmills, and two foundries.

This lithograph published by Currier & Ives, New York depicts the bombardment of the Confederate fortifications on Island Number Ten (April 7, 1862) by Federal gunboats and mortar boats. Ships seen include (from left to right): Mound City, Louisville, Pittsburg, Carondelet, Flagship Benton, Cincinnati, Saint Louis and Conestoga. Mortar boats are firing from along the river bank. Image courtesy of the U.S. Navy.

As a modern shipyard, St. Louis Ship built two yet to be rivaled biggest and at that time most powerful in the world towboats, the 'United States' and the 'America'. They were owned and operated by Federal Barge Lines...

World record tows belong to St. Louis Ship built towboats...

May 21, 1983 up-bound at Reserve, La., with 9 loads and 73 empties, plus the M/V DAVE CARLTON pushed - Dead Boat, your looking at the Record. The Worlds Largest - rafted tow, heading north on the Mississippi with the "M/V Robert A. Kyle" doin the shove'n!

The "M/V Dave Carlton", which was the "Dead Boat", was an un-powered vessel without a crew and being delivered upriver, thus she was counted as a barge. At this tows - Widest Points, its 385' in width, and approximately 1800' long, counting the Kyle's -own hull length too. One of her barges, 200' x 35' x 12 foot drafts, so you can figure her crew - had a lot of walking to do, to check the tow. But wait a moment, "They build boats well over 10,500+ horsepower in this class - Right! ..... "So this makes you wonder, just how many barges one of those boats - could really push?.... 90, or maybe 100+ barges, who knows? Since towing companies don't do this sort of thing, anytime they like. Its hard on the boat, the crews and pretty darn dangerous too. But still, it makes ya wonder ...... ( Photo by Dan Owen = Boat Photo Museum ), "See My Workboat Links Page for his web link.

The IRR = Inland River Record book ( Sold by the WJ = Waterways Journal )..... See Workboat Links Page ).... Give the following details on the "M/V Robert A. Kyle". Built in 1982 by St. Louis Ship, Triple Screw with 9200 horsepower from (3) GM V-16 model 645E7B engines, and Falk Reductions of 4.535:1 ratio. Her hull is 200' x 54' x 12' drafts, and equipped with Kort Nozzles and a total of ( 9 ) Rudders, meaning ( 6 ) Flanking Rudders, plus ( 3 ) Stern Rudders in all. Operated by ( FBL ) = Federal Barge Lines of St. Louis, until sold Dec. 1984 to Midland Enterprises Inc. of Cincinnati Ohio. Sold June 2003 to Ingram Barge Lines, Nashville Tenn., where she continues to operate today. Oh yeah, in case your wondering about the "Dead Boat", here's info on it too, from the IRR Book ...... "M/V Dave Carlton", twin screw ( 6 ) rudders, built in 1980 by St. Louis Ship with a hull = 170' x 45' x 12' drafts, rated 6140 Horsepower from twin GM V-16 model 465E7B engines, equipped with Falk reductions of 4.345:1 ratio, with Kort Nozzles. Operated by ( FBL ) = Federal Barge Lines, St. Louis, until sold Dec. 1984 to Midland Enterprises Inc. of Cincinnati Ohio. Sold June 2003 to Ingram Barge Lines, Nashville Tenn., where she continues to service.

After seeing this place in it's present state first hand last Friday and learning of this once proud shipyard's past history, my heart just aches.....allot of history being plowed under......and another lost industry to our town....

 

[Truckin4life]

Sad to see such an amazing company turned into the ground like that...

I am in the same boat as you brad (no pun intended)
It's really saddening..

neat bit of history though, thanks for sharing!

 

[kiwi f150]

That is a real neat bit of history Brad ...... i can't understand why we all (all over the world ) ignore and bulldoze over our heritage like that - that would have made a great inland maritime museum site.

 

[Krafty]

Brad, I am not sure I will be up that way this week to see the work... That means I expect to see pics and lots of them!!

 

[Blue Goose]

Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to take pictures.....yet. We're not loading dirt with an excavator, I'm on a 963....

Here's some pictures from Thursday morning:

From the north service road looking east towards the Hardee's Iceplex

With the low fog looking at the worksite: