C&O Canal Prepares To Remove Second Barge From Potomac River

Contractors at the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park are preparing this week to remove the second of two construction barges from the Potomac River.

This comes after heavy rains last month loosened the two barges from their moorings, sending them floating down the Potomac River in the Eastern Panhandle.

The contractors working with the park said it will take at least four weeks to remove the larger of the two barges, which is lodged near Harpers Ferry at the Potomac’s former Dam Number 3.

The smaller barge was pulled from the river last month after being stopped north of Shepherdstown. Plans to recover a small excavator and other equipment that fell from this barge and into the river are also being made.

The equipment was part of a restoration project at McMahon’s Mill in Williamsport, Maryland. A release from the national park said the area of the Armory Trail Canal near the extraction site in Harpers Ferry will be closed off and warns the public to not approach the barge while the process is taking place.