Sinking Barge

One of the thousand-or-so photos I took on a recent trip to Chicago was of an empty barge on the Chicago River between Lake and Randolph Streets; I was actually crossing the Randolph Street bridge when I snapped the photo of the immense (about 15-20' deep) barge:

[Photo by John Hill]

The barge was serving 150 North Riverside, hauling away the excavation for building the foundation of a tower designed by Goettsch Partners:

[Image via 150 North Riverside]

Well, it turns out that the same barge is now sitting submerged in the river after it broke free from its mooring last week:

[Photo via ABC7]

This is the second time this year that a barge has sunk in the Chicago River (the first was one serving the Riverwalk under construction further north and east of the above building), and this latest does not bode well for 150 North Riverside nor Mayor Rahm Emanuel's big hopes for the river.