By Jim Hannah
The Cincinnati Enquirer

DOWNTOWN - Two drifting barges floated sideways about 4 mph past downtown just after 9 p.m. Tuesday, obliging police to close five bridges.

Before they were secured, one of the barges brushed the Brent Spence Bridge but caused no damage, said Lt. Bryan Allen of the Covington Police Department. One or both may also have struck the Purple People Bridge upstream.

The incident began when two barges broke loose from a tow that was stopped under the pedestrian bridge near Newport on the Levee. That bridge was immediately closed.

The rain-swollen Ohio River was approaching the 52-foot flood stage Tuesday night.

Officials of Cincinnati Bulk Terminal, close to where the two drifting barges were finally stopped, said they monitored radio traffic that indicated the barges were part of a tow of as many as 15.

Police in Newport and Covington were unsure where the barges originated.

For a time, Covington police thought the barges may have broken loose on the Licking River and drifted into the Ohio.

Several barges were later spotted under the Purple People Bridge, but it was difficult because of the darkness to determine how many there were.

Traffic was halted on the Taylor-Southgate Bridge, the Roebling Suspension Bridge, the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge and the Brent Spence as the two barges drifted downstream.

Shortly after they passed each bridge, traffic resumed.

As the two barges drifted, tugboats struggled to stop them.

Two tugboats finally secured the barges shortly before 10 p.m.

By then, they had drifted past the Brent Spence.

There were no reports of injuries.

The Cincinnati Fire Department responded to the scene but was not called into action.

The Coast Guard also responded.

It was not immediately known if the barges were loaded, or who they belonged to.

E-mail jhannah@enquirer.com