Marine Accident Brief: Contact of William C Tow with Rock Island Railroad Bridge Protection Cell, January 1, 2020

At 0032 local time on January 1, 2020, the towing vessel William C was pushing a tow of six loaded hopper barges on the Des Plaines River, near Joliet, Illinois, when the tow’s two forward barges struck a protection cell for the Rock Island Railroad Bridge at mile 287.6. Several tow lines broke, and two barges sustained minor damage. The bridge ceased operations for 10 days, and damages to the bridge’s protection cell were estimated to be greater than $500,000. No injuries or pollution were reported. ​The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the contact with the Rock Island Railroad Bridge protection cell by the William C and tow was the pilot’s inability to correct the tow’s position after completing the transit through the previous bridge, in part due to the higher-than-average current speed.

• Record URL:
  • https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/MAB2038.pdf
• Summary URL:
  • https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/MAB2038.aspx
• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  Washington, DC  United States 
• Publication Date: 2020-11-17

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Maps; Photos;
• Pagination: 8p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash causes; Crash investigation; Railroad bridges; River currents; Towboats; Towed barges; Water transportation crashes
• Geographic Terms: Joliet (Illinois)
• Subject Areas: Marine Transportation; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01760412
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB/MAB-20/38, Accident ID: DCA20FM010
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 21 2020 10:02AM