Pitt River - Capsized Barge

[Max123]

Anyone know the story on what happened to the barge that capsized immediately north of the Pitt River bridge (eastern shore).

One barge appears to be sunk, and the one beside it is completely flipped over. I saw it when I was driving over the bridge and couldn't get a photo, but found one pretty easily on Reddit (nothing in the news though):

https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/1f9wg0q/barge_20

I sent an inquiry to the Harbour Master for Port of Vancouver, as they have jurisdiction over this area (up to Grant Narrows), and they said they were aware of it - seems like it happened on Sept 2.

One barge seems to still be tied to the adjacent pile, but the capsized barge seems like it is just sitting there - potentially a hazard to the bridge (as well as the train bridge). The lack of any real news coverage or apparent urgency on this stuff is always a bit frustrating.

 

[Max123]

Noted a bit of action over the past two weeks - even managed to see it close up when we were out on our boat last weekend.

Saw someone inspecting the barges - possibly doing some work. Then yesterday when I was driving over the Pitt River bridge I saw that work was underway. The two barges had been pulled apart/shifted so they are both tied off to pilings along the shore. Also, the barge closest to the bridge (upside down), had three honda dewatering pumps running to drain the interior. I suspect one of the barges had hull damage, or possibly an open hatch and got flooded. They are in the process of draining and re-floating at least one of the barges.

Will keep watching.

As a side note, when we were out on the water further up the River we saw a bear swimming across from Pitt Meadows to Widgeon. Never seen that before. Paddle boarders, watch out!