‘Teamwork.’ Barge freed after days stuck across Norwalk River; waterway reopens
The construction and energy business has been around along the river for 107 years, but this was a first for Devine Bros. and for Norwalk Harbormaster Bruce Lovallo.
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A massive barge that was stuck across the Norwalk River for days was freed Wednesday and the waterway reopened.
“Teamwork. That's teamwork. You saw teamwork this morning and afternoon,” said Norwalk Harbormaster Bruce Lovallo.
The operation began around 7 a.m., when a private crane contractor floated up the river and onto scene to begin removing some of the 1,600 tons of gravel from the lodged barged. The 140-foot-long and 40-foot-wide vessel became wedged into the eastern and western sides of the river around 11:30 a.m. Saturday morning while delivering a massive load of cargo to Devine Bros.
The construction and energy business has been around along the river for 107 years, but this was a first for Devine Bros. and for Norwalk Harbormaster Bruce Lovallo.
“Nothing of this magnitude,” Lovallo told News 12.
Lovallo said the crane unloaded about a third of the gravel from the east side of the stuck barge, dropping the gravel into an empty one. As the weight went down, the barge floated up until a tugboat was able to pull it away around 1:30 p.m.
“It's incredible what a captain can really do with experience,” stated Lovallo.
Total, the process Wednesday took about 6 ½ hours.
Saturday’s incident didn't cause property damage or injuries to anyone, but it was an inconvenience, especially to the neighboring Norwalk Boat Club, which was blocked in.
“I think the boat club is very happy that they're going to be able to boat this weekend,” Lovallo said.
As for the harbormaster, “Me personally, I’m very relieved,” he told News 12 with a smile. “We are going to have an after-action review and see what we can do to not have this problem in the future.”
