USACE Towboat Reassigned and Renamed
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Rock Island District held a christening ceremony in Quincy, Ill., on Friday for the latest towing vessel to joins its fleet.
The vessel, which has been renamed Quincy, was built in 2008 by Texas shipyard Orange Shipbuilding for $5 million and is being relocated from the Corps' Louisville District.
Originally named the Gordon M. Stevens, the vessel was designed and contracted by the USACE's Marine Design Center and served as part of the construction fleet for the Olmstead Lock and Dam under the Louisville District's ownership.
The 124-foot-long vessel is 34 feet wide and powered by two 1,500 horsepower engines. The vessel has onboard accommodations for 10 crew members in seven state rooms, plus a full galley.
As part of the Mississippi River Structures Maintenance fleet located at the Mississippi River Project Office in Pleasant Valley, Iowa, the workboat will serve as the primary towing vessel for the fleet’s new Quad Cities Crane barge.
The Mississippi River Project Office and its Mississippi River Structures Maintenance Fleet, which includes six vessels, maintains the infrastructure of the navigation system on 314 miles of the Upper Mississippi River from Guttenberg, Iowa, to Saverton, Mo.