ESCANABA -- Welders, machinists, engineers and fitters have spent the last year constructing a 450 ton Nashville stop log barge at Basic Marine in Escanaba.
On Friday, the 52-foot wide steel barge was launched into Little Bay de Noc for a final check. On Monday it will be towed by Basic Marine's sister tug and crew.
The barge will be taken down to Lake Michigan to south Chicago, and from there it'll go to the Tennessee River where it'll be used to store and transport stop logs.
"We are thrilled to complete yet another successful Corps of Engineers contract," said Terrie Peters, Controller for Basic Marine. "And it was built outside, so our guys had to endure a lot of nasty weather. The reason it was built outside is because it's 52 feet wide and doesn't quite fit inside of the building."
The stop log barge project cost $1.5 million.
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