Valley Line Co. v. M/V City of Greenville

629 F. Supp. 139, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15190
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedOctober 7, 1985
DocketNos. 83-1149A(1), 83-808A(1)
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 629 F. Supp. 139 (Valley Line Co. v. M/V City of Greenville) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Valley Line Co. v. M/V City of Greenville, 629 F. Supp. 139, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15190 (E.D. Mo. 1985).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

NANGLE, Chief Judge.

This admiralty action is a consolidation of two separate actions which arose out of an accident on April 2, 1983, wherein the tow CITY OF GREENVILLE struck the Poplar Street Bridge in the St. Louis Harbor. Numerous claims were filed in connection with the accident. The only remaining claims, however, are those of Slay Warehousing Company, Inc., d/b/a Archway Fleeting & Harbor Service and E.P. Slay and Joan Slay against The Valley Towing Service, Inc. for damages.

This ease was tried to the Court sitting without a jury. This Court having considered the pleadings, the testimony of the [142]*142witnesses, the documents in evidence, and the stipulations of the parties, and being fully advised in the premises, hereby makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law, as required by Rule 52 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Fed.R.Civ.P. 52.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. At all material times, claimant Slay Warehousing Company, Inc. was a corporation duly organized and existing under law.

2. At all material times, E.P. Slay and Joan Slay were residents of the City of St. Louis, Missouri.

3. Slay Warehousing Company, Inc. d/b/a Archway Fleeting & Harbor Service (Archway) operated a fleeting facility known as the Cahokia fleet, located on the left bank of the upper Mississippi River at mile 178. Also, Archway owned barges MV-615 and M-19.

4. At all material times, E.P. Slay and Joan Slay were the owners of a facility known as the Cahokia Power Plant, which is also located at mile 178 of the upper Mississippi River.

5. At all material times, Valley Towing Service, Inc. was a corporation duly organized and existing under law.

6. At all material times, Valley Towing Service, Inc. maintained its principal offices in Memphis, Tennessee, and was engaged in the business of owning and operating towboats along the inland river system, which included the upper Mississippi River.

7. At all material times, Valley Towing Service, Inc. was the owner and operator of the M/V CITY OF GREENVILLE, which is a river towboat used to transport barges on the rivers of the United States.

8. At all material times, Valley Towing Service, Inc. was also the owner of petroleum barges V-882, V-883, V-884, and V-885.

9. Prior to the collision on April 2, 1983, barges V-882, V-883, V-884, and V-885 were loaded with Wyoming sour crude oil. They were in the tow of the M/V CITY OF GREENVILLE on the upper Mississippi River, and were headed southbound from a dock at Wood River, Illinois toward the St. Louis Harbor.

10. All southbound river traffic in this area encountered a gradual bend in the river. The curve extends from left to right above the Veterans Bridge in the St. Louis Harbor to below the MacArthur Bridge. The Poplar Street Bridge is within the bend.

11. The Poplar Street Bridge spans the upper Mississippi River at mile 179.2. The center span, which is also the main channel span of the bridge is marked for down-bound traffic with one green light and three white lights arranged in a vertical line. On the evening of April 2, 1983, the top white light immediately below the green light, marking the center of the channel was not functioning.

12. The river stage on April 2, 1983 was 27.5 feet, which is near flood stage.

13. The captain and master of the M/V CITY OF GREENVILLE was Benny Pope. Captain Pope was at the controls and in charge of the navigation of the tow as it entered the St. Louis Harbor on the night of April 2. As the M/V CITY OF GREEN-VILLE approached the Poplar Street Bridge, the starboard side of the string of barges in the tow came into contact with a pier of the bridge. Barges V-882, V-883, and V-884 caught fire and broke away from the M/V CITY OF GREENVILLE.

14. Captain Pope’s testimony that the accident was due to the failure of the top white light marking the channel span is not credible. The channel span was clearly visible from the Eads Bridge, which must be navigated before a tow can be aligned for the Poplar Street Bridge.

15. The true cause of the collision is that the starboard set of the current immediately above the Poplar Street Bridge was much greater than the Captain anticipated. As a result, the Captain maneuvered his vessel abruptly and misaligned the tow with respect to the bridge.

[143]*14316. On April 2, 1983, the Cahokia fleet mooring facility consisted of two fleet barges, MV-615 and M-19. The two fleet barges were affixed to the bank with a large anchor chain and wire which ran from fleet barge MV-615 to a concrete “deadman” located adjacent to the bank.

17. On the same date, there were 11 barges moored in Archway’s Cahokia fleet in addition to the fleet barges.

18. Upon breaking loose from the M/V CITY OF GREENVILLE, the three burning barges drifted down river, spilling burning oil along the way. One or two of the barges struck the head of the Cahokia fleet and caused the fleet to break away from its moorings.

19. Barge V-883 became lodged in a cove directly above the Cahokia Power Plant and adjacent to the concrete retaining wall just north of the power plant. The barge continued to burn.

20. After burning for a period of approximately two hours in the cove, barge V-883 topped westwardly around the concrete retaining wall north of the power plant and bumped down the concrete river wall of the Cahokia Power Plant. The current was moving toward the concrete river wall and the wind held the barge against the wall of the power plant. Lighted cargo continued to escape from the barge, and burned on the surface of the river immediately adjacent to the concrete river wall. This cargo left its mark on the wall which demarks the water line of the river on April 2.

21. The Cahokia Power Plant is of brick masonry construction, and is located adjacent to the Mississippi River. The brick masonry sits upon a concrete river wall which extends for approximately 510 feet. The concrete wall reaches into the waters of the river. Prior to April 2, the face of the concrete wall contained three ladders which had been used by Archway to gain access to barges moored at the Cahokia facility. Also, on the face of the concrete river wall was a twenty-four inch copper gutter which ran the length of the wall. In addition, there were three pipe elbows which protruded from the face of the wall and ran into the gutter.

22. The three ladders located on the concrete river wall were rusted and in poor condition prior to the accident, due to previous collisions. The ladders were rendered unusable as a result of the M/V CITY OF GREENVILLE accident, however.

23. The twenty-four inch copper gutter had sustained some damage as a result of previous collisions. The gutter had once been used as a waste removal device for materials from the power plant. The Slays had no particular use for the gutter in April of 1983, however. The gutter was severely damaged as a result of the collision involving V-883 and the accompanying fire.

24. Prior to the accident in question, there was a significant amount of spalling and cracking of the concrete coating on the face of the river wall.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
629 F. Supp. 139, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15190, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/valley-line-co-v-mv-city-of-greenville-moed-1985.