Water intake towers south of Chain or Rocks. Unrealistic?

[Chris]

The water intake towers just south of the old Chain of Rocks bridge have always interested me. There are two of them, and they're quite a bit different from each other. They're both beautiful for something so strictly functional. Do you think it would be impossible to get to these, considering they're in the middle of the Mississippi river?

http://tom.stepleton.com/screensize.php ... CT0040.JPG

[ropingk]

The water intake towers just south of the old Chain of Rocks bridge have always interested me. There are two of them, and they're quite a bit different from each other. They're both beautiful for something so strictly functional. Do you think it would be impossible to get to these, considering they're in the middle of the Mississippi river?

http://tom.stepleton.com/screensize.php ... CT0040.JPG

Somewhere in this forman ther is a thread about them and even a artical,I asked the same question and I think the answer was if you want to chance taking a boat out there it is doable it is off limits and would be tresspassing --but so is a lot of what we do My biggest concern is it is right in the open and you may have to deal with the Coast Guard I would not even think about doing this at night and my biggest problem is I cant Swim so it is not on my to do list------However if you went under the premis of fishing you could probaly get away with it--- I would love to see inside one of them "Little Casetles" it is probaly just a bunch of piping and not much to see but if you are brave enought to do it ----It is required you take many pictures

[gimpface]

Wow, that's pretty cool. Go for it!

[Chris]

The water around these things, I think, is very shallow and is considered unnavigable (sp?). I'm wondering if you could just wade out to them when the river is down? I don't think anyone could see you if you remained on the eastern side. You could get to the eastern bank by biking across the Chain of Rocks bridge.

[ropingk]

No No No No and again I say No
I could be way wrong here but i do know where thoese things are and it may ne unavigatable for barges and bigger boats but I am pretty sure you can not wade to them i woul thing a john boat might work but i do think the water is to deep and since they are water intakes they somehow do have to be able to divert water

[Willard]

Wading through the Mississippi isn't the best of ideas to begin with. The current is strong enough, even at the shallow areas that you can still get pulled under... bad idea.

[Chris]

Well, maybe - maybe not - depending on conditions, but you guys make good points. I'm certainly not roping a johnboat to the thing though. That would be really good for attracting the water patrol. People have walked out to them in the past, but there used to be a dyke that at least the smaller of the two sat on. It's still there I'm sure, but the top of it has been washed away. You'd have to come up with a pretty ingenius way to get out to them barring a boat or low-water crossing. Maybe an innertube and a rope tied to the tree (just kidding )

If you guys know where I could find pics of the inside of them, I'd appreciate the info. I've found a lot of info and pics, but nothing from the inside.

[Willard]

Try the water authority in St. Louis. What ever department maintains those intakes most likely has some photos somewhere and if you ask nicely or in the right way, they just might let you see them. Also try the biggest library in St. Louis... I don't know where the one is that would have a history department but that would be the other place to look.

[White Rabbit]

Those are badass. Someone needs to get in there, anyway.

[ropingk]

Well, maybe - maybe not - depending on conditions, but you guys make good points. I'm certainly not roping a johnboat to the thing though. That would be really good for attracting the water patrol. People have walked out to them in the past, but there used to be a dyke that at least the smaller of the two sat on. It's still there I'm sure, but the top of it has been washed away. You'd have to come up with a pretty ingenius way to get out to them barring a boat or low-water crossing. Maybe an innertube and a rope tied to the tree (just kidding )

If you guys know where I could find pics of the inside of them, I'd appreciate the info. I've found a lot of info and pics, but nothing from the inside.

I am not sure this would be a good plann but how about a jet ski you could get there get in get the pictures and get gone pretty quick,,on the other hand I was talking to a friend of mine and he says there are fishing boats tied there all the time??? I do not know the meaning of "all the time" but hey if there are then that should be a good cover I tryed to find pictures of the inside but could never find any I would have to guess they are full of pipes Do they ever get covered over when the river is high????

[Chris]

Even during the flood of '93, I don't think the water was close to the top of them. The water to the south is too shallow for a boat of any kind. There is a chain of rocks (hence the name) that stick out of the water to the south and they stretch all the way across the river. You may be able to get to it from the north on a boat. If you had a johnboat or bass tracker you may look innocent enough, but I don't have a boat of any kind nor access to one.

I think this one's gonna have to go on the back burner for awile, they're not going to go anywhere.

The larger of the two supposedly has living quarters in it for the crew that used to occupy it to work the inlet gates on the north side.

[ropingk]

I have always wondered about them little castles out there in the river Man Living in a Castle or what ever you want to call it
it would be so cool to actually get to see them but I am just not a river rat I have never been a baot fan and to be honest I cant even swim so me going there is just not going to happen

[Chris]

I love the river. I like to find spots where I can overlook it, or walk over it (Chain of Rocks bridge) I rode a jet ski with my dad's coworkers up near St. Charles in it this summer. It was awesome, had a life jacket of course. The riverside loader at Carondelet Coke is a great place to ba along the river and there's a cool overlook at the top of a small cliff behind the powder magazine at Jefferson Barracks.

A funny story about the river is something a couple of my friends and me did earlier this year. We bought a megaphone. That's just stupid. You DON'T buy a megaphone for a some teen-and-twenty-somethings. So re drove up to a riverside park and we were looking across the river and saw some people in Illinois on a sand bar. So we ran and got the megaphone and were yelling at them to wave at us if they heard us. We couldn't really tell (the river's about a mile wide) so we got some binocs out of the car and continued to yell at them...people must have thought we were idiots. They're probably right. While we where there, we saw a sunken barge on a sand bar and decided to drive over to Illinios to see if we could get to it. We found where we thought is was and walked for like 3 miles on top of a levee on the side of a drainage canal, and then in the woods at the base of the canal and never made it to the river, but we knew we were close. Someday we'll make it to one of the many sunken barges along the river.

[speelunker]

Those are cool structures. I spoke with a good friend of mine who works on the river. He heard that one of the inlets is no longer in operation. He thinks it is the bigger one, with the living quarters. Apparently some half-baked fuker was attempting to try to buy it and turn it into a cabin! He also said that it is pretty treacherous getting that close to the chain of rocks. He is going to talk to some old rever workers and try to find out more.