Looking NW from I-64 near 12th Street.
<p>.
Excursion <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/steamboat" class="extiw" title="w:steamboat">steamboat</a> "Belle of Louisville" (doc. # 212813) and wharf boat "Mayor Andrew Broaddus" in tow of "Michelle McBride" (doc. # 225360), upbound in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisville_and_Portland_Canal" class="extiw" title="w:Louisville and Portland Canal">Portland Canal</a> after passing under <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical-lift_bridge" class="extiw" title="w:Vertical-lift bridge">lift span</a> of <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://historiclouisville.weebly.com/the-three-rr-bridges.html">Conrail Bridge (aka Fourteenth Street Bridge)</a>.
</p><p>"Belle" is being returned to her summmer berth at Louisville wharf near 4th Street after spending winter months moored near <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://wikimapia.org/15995019/Louisville-Repair-Station-Army-Corps-of-Engineers">Corps of Engineers repair station</a> at lower end of Portland Canal.
The downtown wharf is exposed to high water, swift currents, driftwood and even occasional ice during winter more than other times of the year, so it may be easier to deal with these conditions in the slack water of the Portland Canal.
Also, it may have been desirable to leave part of the wharf open in case a towboat needed to tie off there in an emergency.
In any case, I think the "Belle" has remained at the wharf year-round since sometime in the 1990's.
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In foreground are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermodal_container" class="extiw" title="w:Intermodal container">intermodal containers</a> at Kentucky Container Service.
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Sternwheel <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/steamboat" class="extiw" title="w:steamboat">steamboat</a> "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_of_Louisville" class="extiw" title="w:Belle of Louisville">Belle of Louisville</a>" (Length 192 feet - Width 41 feet - capacity 998 passengers).
Built 1914 by <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/19thcentury/rees.htm">James Rees &amp; Sons Co.</a>, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and rebuilt in 1968 by Jeffboat, Jeffersonville, Indiana.
Two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_engine" class="extiw" title="w:Steam engine">engines</a>, each 16 inches in diameter with a 6 1/2 foot stroke.
Three return flue <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiler" class="extiw" title="w:Boiler">boilers</a> (built by Nooter Corp., St. Louis, Missouri, and placed in 1968), each 28 feet long by 56 inches outside diameter, with 13 six inch flues. Burns <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/fuel_oil" class="extiw" title="w:fuel oil">fuel oil</a>.
Originally named <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://digital.library.in.gov/Record/ISL_p4038coll5-325">"Idlewild"</a> and owned by the West Memphis Packet Co., the boat operated at times as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packet_boat" class="extiw" title="w:Packet boat">packet</a>, excursion boat and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ferry" class="extiw" title="w:ferry">ferry</a>.
In 1928, the boat was sold to New St. Louis and Calhoun Packet Corp., Hardin, Illinois.
In 1947, the boat was sold to J. Herod Gorsage, Peoria, Illinois, and in 1948 she was renamed <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://steamboats.com/museum/davet-photosbelleoflouisville.html">"Avalon"</a>.
In 1950, the boat was sold to Steamer Avalon, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio.
In 1962, the boat was sold at auction for $34,000 to Jefferson County, Kentucky, under the leadership of County Judge Marlow Cook, and renamed "Belle of Louisville".
As of 2018, the boat was operating public and private cruises from the Louisville wharf.
See <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.ket.org/education/resources/electronic-field-trip-belle-louisville/">more info about the Belle</a>.
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Twin screw towboat "Michelle McBride" (77x23, Cat 3408 diesels, repowered 1983, 820 hp) was built in 1925 by <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/small/nashvilleboats.htm">Nashville [Tennessee</a> Bridge Co.], later rebuilt in 1961 and again in 1974.
Originally named "Kosmortar", the boat was owned by Kosmos Towing Co., Louisville, Kentucky. 
[See a <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://digital.library.louisville.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/cs/id/3139/rec/3">starboard bow view</a> and a <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://digital.library.louisville.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/cs/id/3135/rec/2">starboard quarter view</a> of "Kosmortar" in 1928, or see <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://digital.library.louisville.edu/cdm/search/collection/cs/searchterm/towboat/field/all/mode/any/conn/and/cosuppress/">all towboat photos in the Caufield and Shook Collection</a>.]
In 1967, the boat was sold to McBride Towing Co., Harrods Creek, Kentucky.
In 1974, the boat was sold to Five M Transportation Corp., Louisville, and in 1975 renamed "Michelle McBride".
The boat was apparently still operating as late as 1994, but was off the record by early 1998.
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Ohio River mile 605.
Louisville, Kentucky.
Mar. 1988.
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file # 88c244.
35 mm Kodachrome.
Plustek OpticFilm 7600i.
Siverfast 8.
Picture Window 6.
unsharp mask (radius 1,threshold 3, 90%).
</p>
JPEG quality 95.
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/people/70020260@N04">William Alden</a> from Louisville, Kentucky, USA
CC BY-SA 2.0
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bill_alden/28713594636/">88c244: Belle of Louisville in tow of Michelle McBride at Conrail Bridge</a>