THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 17, 1995 TAG: 9508170555
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3A EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
DATELINE: SOUTH MILLS LENGTH: Short : 30 lines
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lock on the Chesapeake and Albemarle canal at Great Bridge has been closed because of Hurricane Felix. Boat traffic on the Intracoastal Waterway between Chesapeake Bay and Albemarle Sound will not be allowed until after the storm.
Bill Brown, a spokesman for the Corps in Norfolk, said Wednesday that the threat of high saltwater tides that could rush through the Chesapeake and Albemarle Canal into Currituck Sound made the lock closing necessary.
The Dismal Swamp Canal branch of the Intracoastal Waterway will remain open ``as long as possible'' between South Mills, N.C., and Deep Creek, in Virginia. During hurricane threats, many yachtsmen and operators of fishing boats move their vessels to the protected waters of the Dismal Swamp Canal.
``It is the responsibility of individual captains if one of those big trees along the canal bank falls on a boat,'' Brown said.
Like the Chesapeake and Albemarle canal between Great Bridge and Coinjock, the 55-mile Dismal Swamp Canal connects Hampton Roads' marine traffic with Albemarle Sound in North Carolina. Water level in the Dismal Swamp cut is controlled by locks at Deep Creek and at South Mills. by CNB