A dispute in federal court involving the city and two marine companies is delaying repairs to the pedestrian bridge at The Riverwalk and will keep it closed for the foreseeable future.
According to federal court documents, a tow boat owned by Cooper Marine and Timberlands based in Mobile, Alabama, was pushing eight barges south on the Tenn-Tom Waterway on Feb. 6, 2020, when the boat and its loaded barges grounded near the channel opening to the Old Tombigbee River near Columbus. A boat owned by Max Marine came to aid the grounded vessel and in the process, a loaded barge broke loose, drifted down the Tombigbee and struck the pedestrian bridge’s eastern support pier.
The city has filed claims seeking damages from both companies for negligence. Cooper Marine and Max Marine filed separate limited liability actions in federal court, which have been consolidated into one case.
In both limited liability actions, the companies assert they were not negligent and should not be held liable for damage to the support pier. However, both seek to limit any liability they do incur to certain amounts. In Cooper Marine’s case, it seeks to cap damages to the post-incident value of the barge that broke loose and its freight, which it estimates at $161,000. Max Marine seeks to limit its liability to the value of the boat from which the barge broke loose, The Crown Jewel, which its court filing set at $570,400.
City Attorney Jeff Turnage, speaking at Mayor Keith Gaskin’s twice monthly press conference Nov. 2, said proper bridge repairs would cost “multiple million dollars.” He told The Dispatch in a phone interview last week that the force of the barge had knocked the pier out of place by 15 degrees and left a divot in the riverbed.
“If you just straightened it back out, it wouldn’t be resting on anything,” Turnage said.
The city has hired Greenville attorney Frank Thackston, who specializes in marine law, to represent its interest in the case. Turnage said instead of limiting liability to one vessel, the city is asking the court to apply the “flotilla rule” — which would set a liability maximum for the value of all vessels, barges and freight involved.
Since that value would far exceed the value of repairs, the city is asking for dismissal of the liability actions altogether.
Thackston, when reached by The Dispatch, would not comment on the record about the case.
Also at issue is the pedestrian bridge’s inclusion on the National Register of Historic places, meaning the Mississippi Department of Archives and History must approve any repairs/renovations to the bridge.
Cooper Marine submitted plans to the city for repairing the bridge, which Turnage said MDAH rejected.
The Dispatch attempted to contact attorneys for Cooper Marine and Max Marine, but calls and messages were not returned by press time.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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