File:88b081 Mariner downbound approaching Portland Canal (15825076448).jpg

English: Looking NE from I-64 on-ramp near 10th St..

. Towboat "Mariner" (doc. # 285908) downbound approaching Portland Canal. Conrail (later L&I) Bridge and upper gates of McAlpine Dam at upper left. Colgate Clock at upper right.

Twin screw towboat, b. 1961 by Dravo Corp., Neville Island, Pa. 192 x 52.1. GM 20-645E7 diesels, repowered 1979, 7200 hp. Falk red. 4.719:1. Kort nozzles. Orig. MARINER, owned by Union Barge Line Corp., Pittsburgh. Transferred April 1973 to Union Mechling Corp., Pittsburgh. Sold Jan. 1979 to Flowers Transportation, Inc., Greenville. Sold Dec. 1987 to The Valley Line Co., St. Louis. Sold June 1992 to American Valley Line, Inc., Jeffersonville, Ind. Sold March 1993, renamed JESUS’ MARINER by H&B Marine, Inc., Columbus, Ohio, leased to Newco Marine, Inc., Paducah. Sold March 1996, renamed MARINER by American Boat Co., Granite City, Ill. Leased Nov. 2004, renamed DOUGLAS J. FISCHER April 2005 by Memco Barge Line, Inc., Chesterfield, which in 2008 became AEP River Operations LLC, Chesterfield, Mo. Sold June 2012 , renamed CHARLES L. STRAIT by Western Rivers Boat Management, Paducah, Ky

The owner at the time of the photo, the Valley Line, was part of the conglomerate Chromalloy, which explains the "C" stack logo.

Beyond the boat is a vane dike built to modify the current which, when the gates of McAlpine Dam are open to let water pass, runs from near the Kentucky bank toward the open gates. This current (called outdraft because it flows out away from the bank) tends to push downbound tows toward the dam instead of into the canal where they want to go. As I (no expert) understand it, the vane dike deflects some of this outdraft so it flows more toward the entrance to the canal. The diverted water then flows through a gap between the downriver end of the dike and the upriver end of Shippingport Island. The top of the dike is only a few feet higher than pool stage, so when the river rises significantly, the dike is submerged and has little or no effect. At the time of this photo, the upper gates were barely open, and while I don't know about the lower gates, I think the outdraft would have been minimal.

At far right is the cell at the upriver end of the dike, with McAlpine Vane Dike Light and Daymarks on top. . Ohio River mile 605. Louisville, Kentucky. February 1988. file # 88b081. . 35 mm Kodachrome. Plustek OpticFilm 7600i and Silverfast 8. Picture Window 6.

JPEG quality 95.