This link tells the story http://www.riverchat.com/cgi-bin/UltraBoard/UltraBoard.pl?Action=ShowPost&Board=riverchat&Post=2423&Idle=10&Sort=0&Order=Descend&Page=0&Session=

It happened in 1979 and the bridge has since been replaced.

RE:Interesting set of pictures (modified 0 times) your question

I'll try to be brief- April 28, 1979- the CAHABA, Capt. Jimmy Wilkerson, was dropping 2 of his 4 barges thru the east span of Rooster Bridge- mm 200.(something), with intent of running around thru the lift span and catching them below. Pilot Earl Barnhart was on the tow helping the 2 deckhands take off safety wires, winch wires, etc. Wilkerson under-estimated current, and got too close to the bridge, and for some reason they had taken loose all rigging except the stbd. tow-knee wire. This wire pulled the stbd. tow knee under the bridge, and when it broke, the towknee popped up and hung in the bridge steel. Now he's stuck, and the current laid the CAHABA onto the bridge, stbd. side to. When the lower port deck went awash, the vessel rolled, went through the span, and came partially back up once it cleared. Capt. Wilkerson remained at the sticks; however, at one point he was straddled the stbd. pilot house door frame, and the port front pilot house window blew out, filling the place with water.
The boat with the blue trim you see is the CATHY PARKER; she was waiting above for her turn. The CATHY radioed to the TALLAPOOSA, who was down the reach below Blacks Bluff, that something had happened to the CAHABA. Capt. Gary Grammer tied off the TALLAPOOSAs tow, and light-boated to the CAHABA, where he pushed her out into a flooded corn field. The stbd. 16-149 of the CAHABA was still running. The TALLAPOOSA then rescued the 3 crew members, and secured the 2 loose CAHABA barges.

The photographer was from the Linden, AL DEMOCRAT, en route to Meridian, MS, and happened to get caught as the CAHABA blew for a draw at the Rooster bridge. What kept these pictures out of circulation for so long (we believe) was that the President of Warrior & Gulf, owners of the CAHABA, bought the negatives immediately after they were published in the LINDEN DEMOCRAT. I have a copy of the original published version, although it's a little worse for wear after 23 years.

What righted the vessel? She had just topped off with fuel at Demopolis, 14 miles upstream. The CAHABA has one central fuel tank fwd. the engines; had that tank been 1/2 full, she might have never come back up.

Earl Barnhart passed away sveral years ago. I have no idea where Jimmy Wilkerson is.