American Commercial Barge Line (ACBL) withdrew plans to build two 145-ft.-tall dry cement storage silos at the foot of the Mississippi River in Memphis, according to The Daily News.
The Jeffersonville, Ind.-based company outlined its plans in March citing damage to 23 above-ground storage tanks at its Memphis facility from the 2011 flooding that reached the highest levels since the all-time highest recorded river level of 1937. The storage tanks were damaged “beyond repair” in the flooding six years ago, according to the company.
Alternate sites were explored elsewhere in Memphis and in West Memphis, Ark., but all required building a new river terminal. The company, in its application to the Shelby County Board of Adjustment for a zoning variance, said the existing terminal is ideal because of its proximity to the interstate and the deep draft on that section of river.
The industrial use clashes with long-held plans for residential development of the old Marine Hospital by Chickasaw Heritage Park where several ceremonial Indian mounds are located at the bluff’s edge. Opponents of the proposed silos, including the National Ornamental Metal Museum and local homeowners, said renderings showed the silos rising higher than the bluff top.
