Water Transport during Normal Operations of Towboats and Barges in the Illinois River
2011
Heilprin, Danny | Main, Todd | Herring, Penny
The primary objective of this study was to determine whether barges and towboats can provide a means for Asian carp to bypass the electrical dispersal barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC). Visual inspections of ballast tanks and voids on 132 barges (empty and loaded) and 14 towboats were completed in August 2010. If the water level in an individual tank or void was greater than or equal to 2inches, water depth and temperature of water in the barge tank was determined using a calibrated Yellow Springs Instrument temperature-dissolved oxygen probe. A total of 969 individual ballast tanks and voids were inspected. Only 5 percent of the tanks contained a measurable amount of water. Water depths in barges and towboats ranged between 2 - 117 inches with an average water depth of 11 inches. Water temperature in barge and towboat tanks ranged between 69.2 - 86.7 F. Dissolved oxygen (DO) in tanks ranged between 0.44 - 7.80 mg/L. Water temperature and DO concentrations in ballasts tanks were within documented ranges of tolerances for Asian carp and other carp species. Although the water quality conditions in the tanks and voids were not optimal and water depth averaged only 11 inches, water quality conditions could support early developmental stages of Asian carp.
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