NEW ORLEANS —
The entrance to the Piety Wharf inside Crescent Park was closed and locked Monday after a tugboat called Savage Voyager pushing two empty barges collided with the wharf on June 6, according to the City of New Orleans.
The latest damaged comes just a few months after a different barge accident forced another portion of the park to close, too.
“It’s been blocked off for several months now,” said Mike Landry, resident who says he is not surprised by the latest closure. “The river is high and there is a lot of water going through and it hard to control barges.”
Barge crashes are becoming more common as the water on the Mississippi River has been raging since December, breaking a record for the longest time period of high water on the river, according to Steve Hawthorn with the New Orleans/Baton Rouge Pilots Association.
“It’s just very challenging and very dangerous out there,” said Hawthorn. “Things happen very quick because of the speed of the current.”
There is still no word on when the Piety Wharf damage will be fixed. Dustin Castrinos, a wedding planner with Nouvelle Fete Celebrations, had planned on paying the city $5,000 for a wedding on the wharf this Fall. He’s now recommending his clients reconsider.
“By the looks of it, we need to change venues because it looks like it’s going to be closed for indefinite now," Castrinos.
The city said they are working with the French Market Corporation and the Office of Risk Management to determine the impact of the damage. Officials say they hope to repair it as quickly as possible.