The barge leg stopped with a ship alongside
You have a bulk carrier at a Louisiana export elevator, or a floating transfer on the lower river, and the leg, the spout, or the dust collector has quit. The rule that prices the delay is 29 CFR 1910.272 plus the house tariff. A house, a farm bin, and a terminal in Mississippi, Texas, or Arkansas are outside this page.
7export elevators on a 54-mile port, miles 114.9 to 168.5. Port of South Louisiana, facts at a glance, accessed 8 October 2026.
What is wrong on this river, and what you do next
The Port of South Louisiana covers St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. James and counts seven grain elevators there.3 Port Allen is upstream. Myrtle Grove’s floating elevator is downstream. A stopped belt at mile 120.6 is not the unloader at mile 56.8, and it is not the transfer planned at Alabo Street.
The rule for the dust and the leg is 29 CFR 1910.272, accessed 8 October 2026.1 Paragraphs (o), (p), and (q) apply only to grain elevators. The note under (a) points marine-terminal elevators to OSHA directive CPL 02-00-066, on top of the rest of part 1910 or part 1917.
- Do not jog a choked leg to free it. That sentence is 1910.272(q)(1).
- A fabric collector on a pneumatic system needs a device that shows pressure drop across the filter. That sentence is 1910.272(l)(1).
- The house tariff, not a statewide fee chart, is what prices a restricted spout or a buoy line handling.
What 1910.272 requires on the leg, the belt, and the collector
A choked leg is material built up so flow and bucket movement stop. A leg that still moves, with the boot and the discharge clear, is not choked. Jogging is the forbidden way to clear one. Appendix A leaves on-farm storage and feed lots outside the standard, so a house bin is not a callback here.2
Bucket elevators shall not be jogged to free a choked leg.
29 CFR 1910.272(q)(1), accessed 8 October 2026
Bearings sit outside the casing, or inside bearings are monitored by vibration, temperature, or another means. (q)(5) shuts the leg down when belt speed falls by no more than 20 percent of normal. (q)(6) is an alignment alarm or a system that keeps the belt tracking. The daily visual substitute in (q)(7) applies only under one million bushels.
Priority floors include the area within 35 feet of inside bucket elevators. Dust thicker than 1/8 inch comes off immediately unless the written program shows equivalent protection. Under (m)(2), a bad dust system, an overheated bearing, and a slipping belt come out of service promptly. Each inspection is certified with the date, the person’s name, and the equipment identifier.
Who signs, and how the next parish is not this one
| Decision | Who signs | Where it is written |
|---|---|---|
| Housekeeping program and hot-work permit | The employer | 1910.272(j) and 1910.272(f) |
| Briefing a contractor on explosion hazards | The employer, before the work | 1910.272(i) |
| Berth, dockage, line handling | Elevator management and the vessel agent | ADM Tariff No. 11 |
| Official weight and grade on export grain | USDA inspection at the house | Named on the Port Allen elevator page and at Myrtle Grove |
ADM Tariff No. 11, effective 1 April 2026, sends Ama and Destrehan to the 29th Judicial District Court, Reserve to the 40th, and St. Elmo to the 23rd.5 That split is why a Destrehan buoy charge is not a Reserve page. The St. Charles note carries the buoy rate. The Reserve note carries the spout hour. Myrtle Grove is the floating rig.
| Parish | Published machine | Why the next parish is different |
|---|---|---|
| St. Charles | ADM Destrehan, mile 120.6, plus Ama on the west bank | Buoy line handling is printed only for Destrehan |
| St. John the Baptist | Cargill Terre Haute, Reserve | One-spout loading is $4,500 an hour in Tariff No. 24 |
| St. James | Zen-Noh, four towers at mile 163.8 | NTSB priced a gallery strike at $481,006 |
| West Baton Rouge | Port Allen export elevator | Inbound and outbound belts are separate systems |
| Plaquemines | Floating unloader at mile 56.8 | Closed conveyor and two certified scales |
Checklist before you spend the night on the wrong machine
- Name the parish and the house. USDA shipping statistics treat this river as one region. The machines are not one machine.6
- If the leg is choked, stop jogging it.
- Read the bearing: outside the casing, or monitored. Certify the inspection if you are the employer.
- Read the collector gauge. A missing pressure-drop device is its own defect.
- Read the tariff item that bills the ship. A diagnostic price is not published.
- A house, or a terminal in Mississippi, Texas, or Arkansas, stops here. Appendix A already leaves on-farm storage out.
No statewide diagnostic price is published. A number that is not in a tariff, an audit, or an accident report is unknown. Published charges sit on the rule page. Paths with a document are on the parish index.
Questions a superintendent actually asks
Do I need a written plan before I change a grate over a receiving pit?
1910.272(k) caps grate openings at 2 1/2 inches. The written housekeeping program under (j) is a separate duty and still covers floors within 35 feet of an inside bucket elevator.
Can the crew jog the leg for one more hold?
No. 1910.272(q)(1) forbids jogging a bucket elevator to free a choked leg. If the boot and discharge are clear and the belt still moves, the choked definition is not met. If movement has stopped, a restart cycle is the prohibited fix.
Does the small-elevator visual check replace the motion sensor here?
Only under one million bushels of permanent storage, and only for (q)(5) and (q)(6), if someone inspects bucket movement and belt tracking daily. Blue Water lists 5,500,000 bushels at ADM Destrehan. That house does not use the substitute.
Who signs the hot-work permit on the shipping gallery?
The employer, under 1910.272(f), unless the person who would sign stands there for the whole job, or the work is in an authorized shop or outside the grain-handling structure. The permit certifies that 1910.252(a) was met and stays on file until the hot work ends.
Is the floating rig at Myrtle Grove the same diagnostic as a shoreside leg?
No. Myrtle Grove is a Heyl Patterson barge unloader built for midstream work, with closed conveyors and two certified scales. A Destrehan leg is a bucket elevator under 1910.272(q). Same commodity, different machine.
References
- Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. “29 CFR 1910.272 — Grain handling facilities.” Accessed 8 October 2026. Document.
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration. “1910.272 Appendix A — Grain handling facilities.” Accessed 8 October 2026. Document.
- Port of South Louisiana. “Facts at a glance.” Accessed 8 October 2026. Document.
- Port of South Louisiana. “Jurisdiction map,” PortSL2025R02, May 2025. Accessed 8 October 2026. Document.
- ADM Grain Company. “Elevator Tariff No. 11,” effective 1 April 2026. Accessed 8 October 2026. Document.
- USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. “Port Profiles: New Orleans Region.” Accessed 8 October 2026. Document.
How to cite this page
APA: The barge leg stopped with a ship alongside. (2026, October 8). Louisiana Grain Elevator Diagnostics. https://louisianagrainelevator.com
MLA: “The barge leg stopped with a ship alongside.” Louisiana Grain Elevator Diagnostics, 8 Oct. 2026, https://louisianagrainelevator.com.
Chicago: Louisiana Grain Elevator Diagnostics. “The barge leg stopped with a ship alongside.” Accessed October 8, 2026. https://louisianagrainelevator.com.