My favorite part of the article: "A cable will be attached to the other half so it can be reeled in by another barge."

UPDATED: 3:13 PM
Explosives to be used on barge
The Courier-Journal

Salvage company workers plan to use charges this afternoon to break apart a stranded barge in hopes of freeing it from McAlpine Dam, where it has been stuck since Jan. 16.

Under the salvage plan, the shape charges, which aim explosives in a specific direction, will be directed through the hull in order to cut the barge in two, said Bob Faletti, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers.

One half is expected to go through the dam and then down river, where it is to be retrieved by another barge, Faletti said. A cable will be attached to the other half so it can be reeled in by another barge.

The barge has been stranded near the dam’s Gate 2 and has not been interfering with commercial river traffic. It was part of a 14-fleet tow that broke up Jan. 16 when cabling holding the barges together broke. Four of the barges separated from the tow. The three others barges were previously recovered.

The barge stuck at the dam lost a cargo of liquid fertilizer, but it didn’t cause any major environmental damage. The recovery of the barge had been hampered by high water.