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Views from the Ohio River 2010

Here are some 21 selections from photographs taken of the Ohio River and some of it's tributaries from our small boat, Riverdog. The selection includes images taken from the waters around Louisville since 2002. The Ohio River at Louisville has been a busy, often hazardous, commercial waterway for centuries. Beginning with our native American populations building their villages and towns along its banks from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania to Cairo, Illinois this almost 1000 miles of river has been a center-piece of history for the region. Today, with its many Locks and Dams, the banks of the river no longer rise and fall with the seasons: low water in summer and, in places, easily crossed on foot, or a frozen surface from bank to bank in winter. The locks and dam system began in the 1880s and is now complete. 20 of these engineering marvels have been constructed. The purpose of the system was to maintin a year-round "pooling depth" of at least 9 feet in the shipping channel between the locks for commercial barge traffic. The Lock and Dam at Louisville is the McAlpine Locks allowing river traffic to pass the limestone ledges, the "Falls of the Ohio." Prior to McAlpine, experienced boatmen were required to navigate the falls during high water. This proved dangerous work for both men and cargo for generations. During low water, portaging around the falls was required. Out of this grew the cities of Louisville, and Portland on the Kentucky side of the falls, and New Albany, Clarksville, and Jeffersonville on the Indiana side.

Click on the thumbnail for a larger image. Scrolling will be necessary to view the 21 images below.