U.S.
ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS (USACE)
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO
“Barge Allen D” Salvage
San Juan Channel, Puerto Rico
A sunken barge in the San Juan Channel generated a major navigational hazard for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. With time being of essence, Precon Marine, Inc. was able to provide prompt salvage operations of the sunken “Barge Allen D”.
The heavily damaged “Barge Allen D”, a 140’ x 40’ x 8’ double-racked flat deck barge, sat on the bottom of Rio Puerto Neuvo approximately 75 ft from the shore line and approximately 8 to 18 feet underwater surrounded by a partially collapsed cofferdam.
With the cofferdam in place, the sunken barge was initially prepared to be floated by pumping the water out and removing the sediment and debris from the barge top deck. After inspection of the sunken barge revealed damage and deterioration to be too severe for the barge to be floated, the USACE approved Precon Marine’s alternate salvage method to cut the barge in place.
Divers first burned 18” wide cuts across the top deck and sides of the barge. Utilizing chisel beams and a topside crane equipped with a guillotine steel plate, the barge was cut into ten sections. With each cut section weighing approximately 20 to 25 tons, the sections were then loaded onto a crane barge and Shugart floats and towed to shore to be offloaded and disposed.
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