The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to add seven more warning buoys upstream from the Ohio River dam over which two kayakers were swept a week ago, leaving one dead and the other missing.
But Col. John P. Lloyd, commander of the Corps’ Pittsburgh district, said the current number of floats cautioning those approaching the Dashields Lock and Dam already exceed agency and U.S. Coast Guard requirements.
“I hear the public, and I hear the outrage, and I know they want more, and I'm going to address that with every authority that I possibly can. I'm committed to making sure we don't lose any life,” he said at a press conference Friday at the dam in Crescent
Water safety buoys were installed near the Dashields Lock & Dam on the Ohio River. Seven additional pillar buoys will be installed this weekend. (Lake Fong/Post-Gazette)
Ken Brandy, the uncle of the missing kayaker, Helene Brandy, said the addition is welcome. But he said the family remains concerned about “very ambiguous” signage, especially one with an arrow pointing toward the lock that includes the word “danger.”
One might think “the danger’s to my left because it’s pointing that way,” he said. “They have to have it as a restricted area where no boat traffic is allowed past this point.”
Earlier Friday, the agency said there were far fewer warning buoys than it initially indicated upstream of the dam. In a press release, Jeff Hawk, a regional spokesman for the agency, said rather than 17 “pillar” buoys there are actually six. Also, rather than 33 round “mellon” buoys that resemble a string of pearls anchored from the mouth of the lock diagonally toward the middle of the river, there are 14.
Still, the colonel said, “I believe the buoys that are right now in the water are adequate enough that someone ... would recognize that there's a hazard in front of them.”
The misreporting occurred because the local Corps’ chief of operations, Rich Lockwood, said Mr. Hawk’s office earlier this week didn’t specify it was seeking the number of buoys immediately upstream of the dam, and Mr. Lockwood provided the total number of buoys in a wider area.
Mr. Lockwood said the seven additional pillar buoys will be installed this weekend — between the existing ones — by workers receiving overtime pay.
Authorities said Ms. Brandy and Brittany Evans, both 25, were kayaking Saturday when they were swept over the dam. Boaters found the body of Ms. Evans of West View in the river about 6:20 p.m. that day. The search is continuing for Ms. Brandy, who is presumed dead. Two kayaks have been recovered.
Asked whether watercraft should be prohibited beyond the Sewickley Bridge, for instance, the colonel said, “I think that’s really beyond the authority that I have. ... My responsibility as the commander is to ensure safe navigation on the waterways.”
He said the Corps would review the placement of the existing signage elsewhere along the river.
Dashields Dam is a “fixed-crest, uncontrolled overflow structure,” the only one of its kind remaining on the Ohio River, according to the Upper Ohio Navigation Study of 2012, a feasibility study intended to advise long-term planning. Since 1934, most fixed-crest dams with unmovable and permanent crests were replaced with “vertical lift gated dams,” in which the crests can be raised and lowered.
It’s impossible to see the dam’s drop and rushing water from upstream. Col. Lloyd encouraged boaters to “get out and be educated before you get on the water.”
“These are dangerous structures, and the river is fast-moving.”
Molly Born: mborn@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1944.
First Published: May 26, 2017, 4:58 p.m.
Updated: May 27, 2017, 3:47 a.m.
