We were just awarded a contract by the USCG to demolish the South West Pass Light House - If any-one wants the top portion of the tower with the original light station watch e-bay in about 3 months. We plan on cutting off the top 30' and putting it on a barge for sale to the highest bidder. - YEA you know I am going to e-bay it. How often do you see a 1962 light house for sale on e-bay.
Here are some photos that show what it looks like. Just the upper portion of the tower will be salvaged. USE the "BUY IT NOW" and you will probably be the first dad ever to hear your kids saying to the teacher and other kids when they are on the light house field trip "big deal my dad has one in the back yard".
Clay, had not heard that, but it got whacked pretty bad in Katrina. Have noticed the automatic weather has been out since then, now comes from a new Pilot station just up the river. Has the USCG said what, if anything, they are going to replace it with?
I think you ought to move the whole thing 15 miles to Port Eads and we can make it the permanent UVI headquarters, what you say, Andre?
Yeah man!
I'll try to line up a tug and barge! Ha
Funny, some 5 years ago they had grand plans to build a huge pilot station at the end of SW Pass on a sunken concrete-filled barge, a friend bid on it . I thought it was folly then. Internal squabbling delayed it. If they had built it it would be gone after Katrina. They know better now.
I'm sure a replacement light will be built, that's one busy pass.
I'm not sure but indecision may or may not be my problem.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - George Orwell
Maybe a replacement is not in the cards....like the solar powered call boxes along I-10 in the swamps that all got destroyed in Katrina....Gov't decided not to rebuild them since someone reminded them everyone has a cell phone now. GPS...do we need lighthouses that big or just a few lighted bouys?
UV:
We will be installing a New Light - Fully automated on a 5 foot diam. mono pile 65' in the air, battery building, Home Land Security Scanning Camera with 7 nm 20/20 visual focus. It sits about 100' from the existing light house. It is solar powered and a sizeable structure 20'x30' at elevation +45 or main platform height.
Mike: Total costs remove old and install new 3.3 million or was you question the "buy it now" one - tell me where you want it delivered It must be navigable water way for my tug and crane barge -7 depth minimum, I will set on your land or barge, dock or whatever - building permits are your responsibility.
Andre: The New Pilots station is built on a floating concrete barge and while it sustained some damage from Katrina it remained one of the few functional/operational structures for many miles. We replaced many of the aids to navigation on the Mississippi, range lights etc. shortly after Katrina and we were amazed when we delivered some roofing materials to a contractor repairing the roof of the Pilot Station at how well it survived and looked.
UV: I spent the last two months trying to get a USCG Commandant to release it for private use: I almost had a gaggle of them interested when I posed it as a "Value Engineering" proposal to save the Government 2 million dollars in demolition and disposal costs (Value engineering proposals when submitted by private Contractors, if accepted the savings are split 60/40 Contractor/Gov). I felt him bight and for a moment I thought I saw a bill come out of the water but then he spit the hook. (The guy I was dealing with was one of the few really smart Gov employees left in the country/world. After about 1/2 an hour he looked at me and said
"So Clay if we accept your proposal you get the SW Pass Light House in as is condition and we pay you 1.2 million dollars" long pause "I don't think that is a good deal for the US Government even though it saves the tax payers $800 thousand").
The sucker has 4 ea 4,500 gallon double wall fuel tanks, gen-sets, hallon fire system etc. The helicopter pad while slightly out of wack but is repairable. I had this sort of Bob Hope/Apocalypse Now vision for the thin, you know boats tied up all over the place, the chopper lands and out jumps some great comedian followed by the show girls. I think we could pack the place once a month. And the rest of the time it's an amazing fish/duck camp. Need some lifts for boats but as it can get rough out at the end but that’s easy.
Indeed very interesting. Plus you can catch all the huge redfish right under it you would ever want. Thanks for the straight scoop. You are right about it getting rough there......all that river current pouring out against a south wind will have real big & nasty brown standing waves 10 miles offshore to the SW of it.
