BARGE UNLOADS: PORT AUTHORITY PUBLIC DOCK BACK IN OPERATION

SCOTT CITY - After being shut down for nearly two months because of high water, the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority's public dock was back in operation Monday.

Traffic was reopened on the Mississippi River Sunday, and for the first time in a long while, a barge was unloaded at the dock Monday.

"The dock itself is back in operation and our capabilities are limited by whatever is open on the river," said Port Executive Director Dan Overbey.

"We had a few barges around that needed to come into the port and we are trying to wait for the backlog to come through. We should be able to handle whatever is out there."

Mysie Keene, chairman of the port's nine-member board of commissioners, said she is pleased river traffic is moving again and looks forward to having everything back on track at the port.

Overbey said that although the pace of loading and unloading barges was seriously affected by flooding, the port will easily surpass last year's record tonnage that moved through the port.

At this point, Overbey said it is too soon to determine the extent of any damage done to the port facility by the high water because there is still a lot of water on the property.

"We do know that the dock itself has not sustained any damage, which is good for us," said the director.

Overbey said it is too soon to determine what the extent of damage is to the slackwater harbor. That assessment cannot be fully made until the water goes down more, he said.

Once the water goes down, the banks of the harbor will be checked for damage and there will be soundings taken to determine how much siltation there is in the harbor. Overbey said that since there was not much current with the high water, he is optimistic damage to the harbor will be minimal.

"We're just hoping it wasn't too bad so we don't have to dredge it any time soon," said Overbey.

Several other capital projects at the port have been delayed by the high water; however, Overbey said the setbacks will not be significant.

On the project to extend Nash Road into the port, some test borings that were planned had to be delayed. But Overbey said he is hopeful that construction can still get under way sometime next year, with completion in 1995 as planned.

Another project still in the planning stages is the second phase of construction of the railroad spur. This phase will include laying of rail.

Port officials have said they hope to complete the Nash Road extension and railroad spur about the same time.