One month after barge crash, Bolivia dock owners barred from rebuilding

BOLIVIA, NC (WWAY-TV) – Saturday marks one month since a massive barge crushed a private dock near Bolivia.

Last month, WWAY spoke with the owner of the barge, Mike Longhany who wasn’t home at the time of the crash.

“Unbelievable, just distraught, I mean words can’t describe it, we just completed the pier and it’s gone,” Longhany said in October.

Roy Daughtery lives a few doors down from where the barge crashed. He says the cause of the crash is still a mystery.

“There was some reason that the captain of the tug boat didn’t see this and avoid it,” Daughtery said.

While the debris has been cleaned up, Longhany is still without a major piece of his private dock.

Longhany told WWAY they are still drawing up plans for the dock repair, but he’s not sure whether they Army Corps of Engineers will let them rebuild due to a federal navigation channel policy.

“They told them they can’t rebuild back out there because of the new standards,” Daughtery said.

According to the policy, the dock must be a minimum distance from the navigation channel. The dock can not be rebuilt, as it would cross an existing line into the waterway.

The policy states any pier destroyed by a storm, act of nature or other sudden event are also subject to the policy and can’t be rebuild if they pass the setback line. Without the dock, the family misses a beloved part of their home.

“We love this family they got three boys and as soon as they get here, they are all out here on the platform fishing and now it’s gone,” Daugherty said.