Preparing the Admiral for its final journey to an Alton scrap yard:

St. Louis, MO (KSDK) - A local landmark is leaving the St. Louis Riverfront, piece by piece. The Admiral is headed to a scrap yard in Alton, but there's a lot of scrapping going on now in order to make its final journey successful.

St. Louisan Jim Arno says he's documenting history by snapping pictures of the ongoing ship-stripping process.

"I have a book at home about the Admiral, and it actually shows the work they done in, I think, '81, when they rebuilt the top. It's sad to see them take it off," Arno said.

They'll be taking off close to 3,000 tons of materials. Steel, iron, and the sheet metal exterior, which is not as valuable, but like the rest, will be recycled.  Right now, the upper deck has to go.

"Taking the deck house structure down so we can reduce the vertical clearance requirements so that she'll fit under the bridges," said Bill Kline, a spokesman for the Admiral's owners. 

Under a railroad bridge. The Mississippi River may be below flood stage, but the water is still predicted to be too high for the Admiral to clear the Merchants Bridge, near the McKinley Bridge.

The only sure way for smooth sailing underneath is taking off the Admiral's top.

The ship will be towed to a scrap yard in Alton.

"Taking the boat up to a more secure location where we have better access, and the ability to continue work to remove material is the plan," Kline said.

John Vaughn, a tug boat captain on the Mississippi River, also came by Wednesday to get some final shots of the Admiral.

"It's a piece of history. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a place for it," he said. "It's an expensive thing to take care of if someone were to have moved it."

Moving it to an Alton scrap yard is an eight to 10 hour tow. So many St. Louisans say they're sad to see it go.

"I understand the connection one has with the ship. But if a ship has a heart and soul, it's her propulsion system and her crew, and that's long gone for the Admiral. She's just a vestige of what she once was and what people remember."

Also to be considered before the Admiral's final voyage: the water level in what's called the Alton Pool, the location of the scrap yards. The water there is low; too low for a ship to enter. So it's expected the Admiral won't be able to leave St. Louis for another two to three weeks. In that time, the owners will make a final decision on where the Admiral will end up.

Source: KSDK. By Kathleen Berger. 9 March 2011

http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/248472/3/Preparing-the-Admiral-for-its-final-journey-to-an-Alton-scrap-yard