CLARKSVILLE, Ind. — (WHAS11) -- Salvage crews began working to salvage the several barges that have been stuck in the dam at the Falls of the Ohio Wednesday morning, setting up giant cranes and other large machinery near the banks of the Ohio River.
"If we ain't working, we're down here," Jeremy Forbes, a Clarksville resident, said. "It actually brings a lot of people out here every day keeping up with it. For me, it's just something to get me out of the house."
Two weeks earlier, several coal barges became stuck on the Ohio River near the Falls after they broke loose from a towing vessel that crashed into the Second Street Bridge on Christmas Day.
"Nothing's been done and then yesterday we see the cranes down by the river so we're kind of excited to finally see them working on it," Amanda Forbes of Clarksville said.
"You can see how big this equipment is and how much equipment is out there right now," Lt. Cmdr. Michael Metz with the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Ohio Valley said. "It takes a long time for that to transit from where it did, which I think some of it came from Memphis, I think some from farther away than that as well."
According to officials, the final salvage plan was submitted by crews on Friday before the Coast Guard and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved it Tuesday. The salvage crews will first work on removing the coal from the remaining barges, which could take several days. After the coal is removed, the salvage crews will anchor upstream along the banks of the Ohio on the Indiana side to begin lifting the sunken barges. According to the Army Corps of Engineers, the two barges that have remained afloat should be able to be pulled off the dam.
Even with the plan in place, there is no set timeline, as crews will need to evaluate what work can be done given certain conditions out of their control, including the river levels and the weather. Officials said the whole project could take weeks to complete.
"We're going to have to look at it day-by-day and be cautious as far as what our operations are going to be for that day," Shawn Kenney, the assistant operations manager for the Louisville locks and dams with the Army Corps of Engineers, said.
"We want to make sure that everybody here operates safely and that nobody gets injured and we have a safe operation," Metz said.
According to Kenney, at this time, there is no plan to remove the coal that has sunk into the river. The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife and the state's Department of Environmental Protection have both said they believe there will be little widespread environmental impact.
►Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.